


Stars, I have seen them Fall

by Winter_Amaterasu



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crime Drama, Drama, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon: Anime, Spy drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2019-10-15 01:34:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 53,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17519684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Amaterasu/pseuds/Winter_Amaterasu
Summary: Sypnosis: The chaos around Banana Fish are done and dusted, and it seems to Ash that he was only resurrected to be dumped into another one. This another chance in life, however, might be proven a little bit harder to swallow - new secrets to unveil and new truths to be uncovered. But that does not mean he will back down,either.It would be a braver new world, after all.Chapter Four Snippet: "Ash knew. And Ash knew that children who never ever lived twenty years of their lives should never have to run away, to crawl, to beg for mercy, and to be forced to their knees. However, the world they were living in were too lustful and too greedy. They were too big, too intimidating, could run even faster than them, with limbs long enough to grasp them - to violate them. The rest were just too blind see the tears and too deaf to hear the cries, going about their own mundane businesses that only mattered to them. Twenty more years later and Ash dejectedly observed that things still did not change. "





	1. "Stars, I have seen them fall,"

   New York was noisy as usual, with blaring sirens, loud people, and honking transportation that suggested impatience. The city that never slept and would continue to never sleep, it seemed. However, with the gentle breeze by the harbour and the setting sun right before him, Ash Lynx could just about close his eyes and pretend that he was living anywhere else other than in the city that had bred him into what he was now. With the lapping of the waves by the port, he could pretend that it was not the dirty waste from the sewers but the vast sea offering nothing but its blue waters and fine sand that would burrow between his toes. Then he would unfurl into a place that he longed to be with the gentle falling of cherry blossoms, the chiming of bells, and with dark hair blowing into the wind.

   Ash opened his eyes and forced himself into reality again, dug his nails into the rusty railings and hoping it would hurt. But physical pain never gave him relief from memories, and there were many times where he cursed his pointless and unforgiving luck. Better off dead than reliving all the memories as if they were photographs projected by all the dastardly gods above that wanted nothing but pain for him. Ash thought he would have the final resolution, the final rest, with the words from the blood-tainted letter lulling and cradling him to sleep like a mother to a child. But no! Damned and blasted luck! Why the fuck did he live?! His body should be pale and unmoving in a morgue, on top of a cold metal counter-top, and someone - anyone - identifying him as 'Ash Lynx' so he could be buried under more than ten feet of dirt.

   Well, someone did pronounced him dead to the world. They just did not let him stay dead.

   "You're not destined to die just yet."

   Ash slammed his fist on the railings, its rusty clanging ricocheted enough to wake a dozing homeless man on the nearby bench. Ash could not care any less, wearing back his hood over his head and stomping back deep into the concrete jungle. Live on, they had said. Live on, he had said. But without the cherry blossoms, the bells, and the black hair to run his fingers through, he might as well be dead all over again.

   His phone then rang. Ash languidly dipped his hand into his coat pocket to fetch it out. The caller's name made him frown, and the anger that had been simmering underneath was threatening to bubble over. Ash eventually calmed himself down and even though he very much wanted to block the caller and tear his phone for good measure, he knew that it would come back round to him again.

   "What do you want?" Ash quipped into the phone.

   The voice at the other end sighed in a patronising way that Ash wanted to lash at. Thankfully, the voice went straight to business. "The shipment containing the package will arrive tomorrow at approximately ten minutes to one in the morning," it said, "just noting you so you wouldn't stand by East River all night, conspicuous as you are."

   Ash allowed himself a bitter chuckle. "Oh? And what would you do if I failed? Have someone notice a supposedly dead man so they could finally shoot me in panic?"

   The voice took pause before answering, "You know, you have been asking that question for two years in a row right now." Another sigh. "What would I do? Definitely nothing that you could ever think of. And you wouldn't fail. Even when you're at death's door, you're too much of a survivor for that."

   "Am I now? Tell me, why should I trust you in the first place?" Ash attempted growled; attempted on letting the coiled anger into explosion. He was a little disgusted that he only managed to sound exasperated.

   "Again, two years you have been asking me that. Hand me over the package by Wall Street Station afterwards," the voice ordered. Then in a gentler tone, "I might give you some answers."

   The phone went dead and Ash placed it back into his coat pocket, exhausted already. He trudged onto the night and through the blinding artificial lights, drunkards, and trash-filled streets. He grazed his fingers onto the cold steel of his revolver that was tucked under his coat. He hardly ever used it but there were many times that he pondered about starting a fight with an upcoming gang that were too young and cocky for their own good. Ash held back every time, held back the thrill that sometimes coursed through his bones whenever he thought about his gang - just him and them with all of their victories and failures. Besides, Sing Soo-Ling would beat him straight to whatever problem was brewing underground. There was no place for another Ash Lynx in the scene. His days had been counted and they were more than over.

   At around quarter past midnight, Ash finally entered his condo on 5th Avenue - the very same one that he had purchased with Golzine's money. As far as his neighbours know, his former 'father' Edward Winston had sold the condo to an 'Alfonso Miguel Tornincasa', an Italian heir from Lombardy to a large hotel businesses in Nevada and Florida. The upkeep was not due to Golzine's stolen fifty million dollars anymore, but to an influx of few hundred thousands on a monthly basis instead. Ash wanted to drain the money into the sink, let himself starve or suffocate in the dust. In the end, Ash's survival instincts kicked in so he ate the food the fridge and the dust never accumulated due to a weekly cleaner. Ash had accused and cursed his keeper; had expected that sex was the payment; that Ash being a toy again was all he's after. What Ash did not expect, was a stern slap across the face, being told to get a grip on himself, and eyes that spoke frustration, and disgust, - and guilt. Ash was then sent back to the condo with a warning to never repeat his episode ever again.

   The whole scenario frustrated Ash to no end. The enemy was more or less known with Golzine and Ash would rather have that even if fighting it was useless. However, with his keeper, Ash was left confounded and it left the feeling of being blind all over again, helpless to an unknown entity.

   "Whatever," Ash muttered to himself as he fetched a beer from the fridge.

   When Ash closed the fridge, he noticed something at the corner of the fridge door. A fluffy fridge magnet of an animal of some kind. 'Toro-ro', was it? 

  _"It's Totoro, Ash. To-to-ro." A light chiming laugh came after._

   Ash sucked in a breath, his hands shaky as he snatched the fridge magnet and threw it into a nearby drawer. He shut the drawer close, vowed to himself to never open it again, and cursed whoever the hell suggested to leave things as they were before. Squashed down any desire to pick it back again and cradle it forever. He hastily opened his beer, not bothering when some of it spilled onto his fingers and to the floor, and gulped it down until it was halfway empty. It was empty within minutes and Ash was back for more then even more. He did not care - he was beyond caring about anything at this point so why would alcoholism be any different? Why would anything else be any different? It was not like someone would embrace his fears and uncertainties away, anyway.

   It was five minutes to five in the morning when Ash trudged into the bedroom, a colder echo of his previous bedroom with only one king-sized bed placed by the middle wall. When he first encountered the sight, he almost did a double take which was something that should not happen - it was his decision after all. It took him quite a while to get used to it, managed to convince himself not to sleep in the living room anymore and end up with an annoying kink in his neck. Then, after a while, he finally managed not to cry himself to sleep every time. He should convince himself that he did not miss it - that he should never long for it. Neither for the second bed within an arm's length nor for the sound of soft breathing that somehow still echoed in the room. Nor for the hushed conversations, nor for the dark eyes twinkling whenever they gaze upon him, nor for the sleepy smile that was always aimed at him. None of that matters anymore, Ash thought as he curled up upon the too-large bed, as far as he knows, I am dead.

 

 

   It was around seven in the morning when Ash woke up, an unusual time for him to be awake so. The sun had not fully come out yet and he imagined that the whole of New York would still be engulfed by a long stretch of pitch darkness. Then, sooner or later, a thin bright line would appear on the horizon and the warm light would appear to enclose this city - undiscriminating, every inch covered, even all the bad ones. Ash did not bother to open his blinds and watch the sunrise as usual; he had been disenchanted by it a long time ago.

   A strong mug of coffee is a good idea, Ash thought as he rose up from his bed. He did not bother to make his bed. He did, however, tug at the corners of his blanket in an act of somewhat orderliness - spontaneous as it might be. Then, he grabbed his towel and dragged himself to the bathroom for a quick shower. The water was cold and it was not as if Ash would ever worry about the lack of hot water anymore. Be awake as possible, Ash convinced himself. After lathering and rinsing off, and when he thought the coldness had finally seeped through his muscles and into his bones, Ash turned off the tap, dried himself off, and then went back into the bedroom to get himself dressed.

   In the kitchen, he made his coffee. At the dining room table, he skimmed over his newspaper. At the living room, he listlessly changed channels every second. His fingers was twitching and his feet was drumming onto the ground, violent enough that Ash reckoned it will leave a dent. Giving into the urge, Ash at last switched off the television and grabbed his revolver, tucking it inside his coat. He went out of the condo, the hood of his jacket covering his blond hair and sunglasses veiled his sharp, green eyes. Ash had planned to stay inside the condo until very late however, as ever, his blood sings for thrill and his soul would always long for air. Years and years of being stifled would do it for you, confined in a dark room and more often than not with nowhere to escape. So when he reached the garage, he hastily placed his helmet upon his head, started his motorcycle, and sped away into the streets.

   Driving on an early Sunday certainly had its merits and thus, Ash did not bother too much for speed limits and sometimes, traffic lights. His keeper would not be pleased with him and Ash would definitely get an earful from him. Ash would worry about that later on. At the moment, he merely focused on the air billowing his coat, the rush of the wind, and the noise of his bike singing through his veins. He sped up and imagined that he was on a wide open space. Ash thought for a moment how he was more reckless than his younger self, a year or so ago, when soothing words would settle him down. None of that matters now, Ash reminded himself and so he sped up through the roads and streets of Manhattan as if conquering his city back.

   Of course, the fantasy would have to end at the some point, and Ash found himself staring out onto the murky waters at Pier 34 along Hudson River. It was cold and the wind from the river was biting but Ash was hot from the adrenaline that he ditched his coat aside. He did not let it bother him as he scrolled through the messages that was sent to him by his keeper. He had only been half-aware of the vibrating phone when gunning down through 5th, 6th, and 7th Avenue, sped around Washington Square Park, and almost ran over a college student when passing by NYU. It was just Ash's luck that his keeper stationed his surveillance all over New York City. 

   'You just could not keep still,' the last text message had said and Ash allowed himself a small quirk at the corner of his lips. He imagined it being sent to him in exasperation, with a long sigh and a throbbing migraine.

   Serves him right, Ash thought as he pocketed his phone and wandered off. There was no one around and he was both regretful and thankful for it. He was not quite sure how to deal with his own thoughts just yet.

   "He's right, you know," an unfamiliar voice - British accent, but not quite the received pronunciation that Ash was familiar with - called, "you are a bloody handful."

   Ash whipped his out his revolver out and aimed it at a stranger behind him, taking care to aim it between the eyes. He was a little satisfied when the stranger gave a small flinch as his hands immediately went up in surrender. Nevertheless, it could still be deadly to let his guard down.

   "Hold it right there, mate," the stranger called again. "It's horrendously impolite to shoot your acquaintances." Then, the stranger gave Ash a playful smile. "I'm not your enemy, Aslan Jade Callenreese. Or should I still call you Ash Lynx?"

   "Forgive me if I tend to shoot both acquaintances and enemies alike these days," Ash replied in a low tone of voice, almost hissing, "Mr...?"

   "Bond. James Bond," the stranger replied, pocketing his hands back into his sleek Ralph Lauren trench coat.

   Ash was not amused in the slightest. "Stop fucking around," he barked out.

   The stranger gave out a laugh, not intimidated by Ash's revolver being pointed at him anymore. After calming down, he continued, "Okay, okay. I give in. You sure like to cut to the chase, aren't you? I should have known - he had warned that to me after all." Then, he gave Ash a little bow before introducing himself, "You can call me Mr Burton in the meantime. Wilford Burton. Whether you think that is an alias or my real name is up to you. As if I could stop you from accusing me either way."

   Ash let his grip on his revolver loosen and when he spotted a jogger at a distance, he eventually tucked it under his jacket. However, he still trained his sharp eyes on this 'Mr Burton.' When the jogger went past them and out of earshot, Ash broke his silence.

   "MI5 or MI6?" Ash queried.

   "MI6," Mr Burton replied, coming closer to Ash so his face was shown clearer but stopping at a comfortable distance between them two. "I would appreciate it if you don't ask if James Bond is real. Or we have fancy gadgets handed out by sassy quartermasters. Or if we give ourselves agent numbers like 007, 6, 5, you name it. If that were to happen, I think I might sign myself for a voluntary redundancy than to go along with the lameness. But I do find it fun introducing myself as James Bond. What do you say? I do look like a handsomer Pierce Brosnan, right?" Mr Burton ended with a playful wink with an equally playful smirk.

   Ash raised his eyebrow. Mr Burton was acting a bit like Blanca for him to be comfortable. "Do you normally flirt whenever you meet someone?"

   Mr Burton chuckled. "Oh no, laddie," he said, "this is not flirting. Believe me, you'll know when I am flirting. No offense, you're handsome but definitely not my type. If I ever find out that I am bisexual, I think I'll swoon over Benedict Cumberbatch or Ben Whishaw look-alikes."

   Ash shook his head and walked over to the railings, leaning over to stare at the murky river waters again. He let Mr Burton to follow suit as the older man rested his back onto the hard metal beside him. Both allowed another bout of silence - whether to further calm the atmosphere or to assess each other again at the corner of their eyes, no one was sure.

   "My keeper sent you here," Ash started, deciding to state the obvious between them.

   "Just to deliver another package," Mr Burton replied as he pulled out a USB drive from the pocket of his trench coat. "Your old man will explain the rest later on. You keep it, though. It's important."

   Ash accepted the USB drive and inspected it, twirling it around and around between his forefinger and thumb. It was in a sorry state with deep recesses that exposed the memory chip inside. The connector was also nearly falling apart and Ash wondered if this thing would ever work with his computer.

   "Just keep it somewhere safe," Mr Burton continued, "we did not even risk hacking into the data - intelligence systems are regrettably getting too predictable and even the smallest traces are going to get picked up within seconds by hackers. We considered shipping it to other international agencies that we are working with but," Mr Burton let out a sigh, "let's say we are getting wary even amongst allies."

   "What a surprise," Ash commented in a sarcastic tone, "the world just cannot get along, eh?" Then, his sharp eyes turned to Mr Burton, "So, what? You're going to trust a twenty year old kid, instead?"

   It was Mr Burton's turn to be slightly amused. "You gave us quite a show with Golzine's stocks last time. Did you know, it took the CIA and FBI just yesterday to find out that it was you? Not that it all matters anyway especially considering what was uncovered in the news. The same could be said when you gathered all that information regarding the drug, Banana Fish. Your traces are impressively invisible and some of our computers have even developed viruses trying to hack into your spyware. You have talent, kid."

   Ash looked away and hummed, still twirling the USB drive in his hand. A half of him was tempted to hurl it in the ocean. However, another half of him cannot be helped but to be curious - immensely curious in fact that the gears in his head started ticking for theories, suspects, and even possible solutions. Did Ash really wanted this? If the truth had to be forced out of him, Ash had enjoyed uncovering the salacious scandal with Golzine and the politicians with Max Lobo. He had enjoyed being one step ahead, trampling almost all of the White House, and the sliver of justice that was felt deserved - for him and for many others. But he was directly involved - as a victim no matter how much Ash wanted to convince himself otherwise. The USB drive and its contents in his hand seemed to be far larger, far out of his league, and not only involving American intelligence but the world's as well.

   What would you say, Ash desperately thought. As expected, there was neither a soothing reply nor a soft-spoken reassurance.

   "We'll discuss it with that person," Mr Burton said as he pushed away from the railings, patting down his trench coat. "We'll discuss either everything at once or one at a time. You have your own questions right?"

   Ash nodded, placing the USB drive inside his jean pocket. "I still don't trust you," he reminded Mr Burton, "or any agencies at all, to be honest. You had me curious, that's all."

   Mr Burton smirked, "It would be a miracle if you did." He straightened his trench coat and stared at Ash's eyes. "Well, I've got to go. Stuff to do, report that you haven't killed yourself off yet, etc, etc. What a pain you are, really. But then again, I would be unimpressed if you aren't."

   Ash stared at Mr Burton. "You don't really know much about him either," he stated.

   "Nope," Mr Burton agreed. "As far as I know, he's just a character that somehow entered the scene. He helps intelligence agencies but very selective. Bit of a surprise he offered his services to CIA and MI6." Then, his eyes stared back at Ash's. "And for some reason, he's very invested in you."

   "I am trying to find that out why as well," Ash commented.

   Mr Burton then gave Ash another bow. "Well, good luck with that," he added before finally leaving Ash to his own devices.

   Ash turned back to the murky waters of Hudson River. He closed his eyes and imagined his fantasy again. There was nothing.

   "Good luck to me, indeed."

 

 

   It was finally quarter to one in the morning when Ash arrived by the north of East River. He could not lie; he thought of ditching. As he fiddled with the USB drive in his pocket, he thought of the excuses he could make, the retorts that had yet to be prepared, and - if it did came down to it - deals he could make so he would be left alone. Then, all he needed to do was to hand out the drive back to the Englishman. Alas, it was only a matter of time when he was approached for the second time around. It was a kid this time - Ash reckoned around fifteen to sixteen year old. The kid was donned in a jacket (Levi's), jeans (Tommy Hilfiger), and over coat (Barbour). The only things that stood out were the shoes; there were a rundown pair of Converse All-Star.

   "A package for Mr Lynx," the kid's teasing voice greeted Ash as he waved a square box wrapped in manila paper.

   Ash smiled, "Thank you." He then accepted the package from the kid. "Name?"

   "Silver Johnny," the kid replied.

   Ash could not help but to raise his eyebrow. "From the play, 'Mojo'? Did that Englishman sent you?"

   "James Bond," the kid answered with the same teasing grin. "My uncle."

  Ash rolled his eyes but ruffled the kid's hair. "Stay out of trouble," he advised the kid. "America can get too much for the folks from across the pond."

  The kid let out a laugh, "No can do. Especially when you 'Muricans tend to start the fire first." Then, he gave a mock-salute to Ash before taking off into the distance.

   Ash went to the other direction, towards where his motorcycle was parked, the package secure inside his jacket. His phone rang short. Only a text message.

   'I'll be waiting inside the station,' the message read. Ash considered it for a second before shrugging and placing his phone back into his pocket. He started his bike, revved it up before taking off into the road.

   It was a quiet journey down the FDR Drive and it was the kind of drive that would normally calm Ash down. At the point where he passed the entirery of Roosevelt Island and the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge to his left, Ash continued to be only vaguely aware of the package inside his jacket. Vaguely aware were the key words in - as Ash could never ignore twisting weight and the rapping of the package against his side. There was also the USB Drive that did not leave that confines of his jean pocket. He decided he would worry about that later on.

   It was not quite trepidation that Ash felt when he spotted the tall lifeless buildings of New York's financial district. If Ash were to be frank, Wall Street was the place that Ash like to avoid the most. The next scumbags that walked on Earth after politicians and perverted mafia dons, Ash thought over and over again, are men who have way too much money that are more than likely placed in tax havens. This was also the place that Golzine frequented often, shaking hands with benefactors in the New York Stock Exchange, toasting Dom Perignon with dealers up in 40 Wall Street, and passing photos of boys to be sold at Club Cod to acquaintances right by the Federal Hall. Sometimes, he was tagged along. He absolutely hated it.

   With a crease upon his brow, Ash revved his bike higher as it thundered through Wall Street. A rebellion that was long-awaited - whether against his previous tormentor or his current keeper, he did not care. His bike reverberated through the road and for sure, if there were any half-asleep conglomerates, bankers, and businessmen in general, Ash would have woken them up annoyed at this rebellious twenty-year-old driving his noisy contraption. No doubt his keeper - and probably Golzine from Hell - were watching this display with disdain. Let them frown, Ash decided. He had enough being taken for granted. And to make further point to his keeper, Ash parked his bike in one of the little nooks along Pine Street and decided to walk towards Wall Street Station at a leisure pace with hands inside the pockets of his jacket. The man was probably waiting impatiently inside and counting down the minutes until Ash arrived. Ash knew that the man would not come out to fetch him; it was like both of them were dancing around to see who would cave in first.

    _You would be so annoyed by this_ , Ash thought fondly.

   Ash patted his side, feeling for the sizable package inside his jacket. Truth to be told, he was tempted to open it; he had enough experience snooping for important documents to know how to deftly open them and rearranging them again the way they were not to arouse suspicion. Ash did not bother in the end.  Just like how he did not bother to plug in the USB drive into his laptop. Unlike before, there was no point for him to look into things that did not include him, into things that did not matter him. Just like how everyday did not matter, Ash added. And yet, he was still living.

   Just as Ash about to go down the stairs to the underground station, he was met with steely pale eyes and a frown that spoke concealed irritation. As usual, his keeper was on his own - no one would suspect an man who normally donned an open and friendly face. It only helped that his keeper also did not really extrude power and was the type who did not flaunt it like certain politicians and businessmen. Ash himself was still in the dark regarding his keeper. Even after two years, his keeper was still setting him on edge as if the man was a bomb that would be dropped onto him sooner or later. 

   As he slowly approached the man, Ash became aware again of his keeper's posture. Despite the clear annoyance that was plastered across the man's face, his figure was relaxed, back resting on the tile wall of the station, with one hand in the pocket of his slacks and the other hung languid by his side. The man's shoulders were relaxed, always; Ash never recalled them to be squared up in defence - at least, not when he was facing Ash anyway. 

   "I am starting to think you would never come," the man told Ash.

   Ash gave a careless shrug, "Not going to lie. It's tempting." Then, he looked straight at the other man's pale eyes. " You promised answers. Now, give me answers."

   The man gave a smirk. "And I will act on my promise," he replied, "two years is a little bit too long to be in a limbo right?"

   "And too long to be played around," Ash added as he fetched the package from inside his jacket and handed it to his keeper.

   The man accepted the package and inspected it. "You didn't open it," he stated.

   "There wouldn't be any point," Ash replied before digging into his jeans pocket to retrieve the USB drive. He also handed it out to the man. "Whatever answers I get, none of this would have any point in the end."

   "You sounded so sure," the man said.

   Ash quipped, "Positive."

   Then, there was a sort of quiet that hung in the air. It was not tension, nor an awkward silence, nor a calm before the storm. Ash grazed his eyes over the USB drive but did not make a move to retrieve it from Ash's hand. The drive was left hovering and Ash was tempted to just let it fall to the ground.

   His keeper let out a sudden scoff, "We'll see about that." He then tucked the package inside his suit jacket. "Come with me. I found this nice cafe by Columbia University. It's nice and cosy especially in wintertime. We'll have  talk there."

   Ash's eyes narrowed a fraction, "My bike is parked somewhere."

   Uncaring, his keeper dismissed Ash with a wave of his hand. "It will come back to you in the morning," he told Ash, seemingly aware that the younger man was only making excuses. "Now, come on," he urged again, "I have already purchased out tickets - it seems a damn shame to waste it. I'll even treat you to this place given if they won't get annoyed waiting for us."

   Ash trailed his gaze as the man moved off from the wall and walked further into the station. Ash considered a moment before following the other man. Their footsteps echoed throughout the mosaic tiles of the Wall Street Station, his keeper's footsteps more so with the man's sleek Oxford shoes than Ash's Vans. Despite the suit, styled hair, and pale eyes that would penetrate without any problem, the other man kept his languid way of doing - his shoulders were still relaxed, his steps had acquired a lazy rhythm , and he was even humming lightly. For sure, the man knew that Ash kept his revolver with him at all times; that he could be tempted pointing it at the back of his head and just shoot. Nevertheless, his keeper was confident enough that he wouldn't be killed by Ash anytime soon. Ash really could not read the man, the man who 'resurrected' him two years ago. The man who went by the name Donato Scordato.

   When the two men boarded the metro, which was thankfully not crowded, Ash could not help but to mutter, "Who are you really, Donato Scordato?"

   The man, Donato, turned his attention to Ash and gave a light smile. "The same goes for you," he replied. He turned back to the window of the metro as if mesmerised despite there was nothing to see. "Who are you really, Ash Lynx? Or were you still Aslan Jade Callenreese?"

   "Neither seems to apply anymore," Ash murmured, more to himself than to the man across him.

   "Thus, here were are," the man said, "the two of us with lost identities - together. It is only a matter of time before we collide into each other."

   "Don't get too romantic," Ash snapped. "I am more than sure that we are nothing alike."

   Donato did not look even slightly offended anyway as he gave Ash another light smile. At that, Ash gave up frowning at the man and let out a deep breath. He slouched back onto his seat and looked out of the window. There was nothing to see but Ash guessed that was better than being too aware of the man who was still lightly humming to himself.

   The announcement came for 116 Street Station - Columbia University and it was still dark when Ash and Donato exited the subway station save for some college students that were out and about - some were dragging their feet and heaving large piles of books; some were clustered into noisy little groups clearly on a night out; then, some were pulling their heavy luggage or carrying their large overnight bags with sombre faces. The university itself stood tall with its blue-green roofs and pale brick walls, hovering over its late night students and its staff even when most of the buildings were asleep. Ash noticed that there was a twinkle in Donato's eyes as the man's gaze fell on Dodge Hall.

   "I went here as a student," Donato murmured out of blue, "and I would give anything to be back. They were not best days, not definitely my worst ones."

   Ash followed Donato's gaze to the university building. Whilst the other man looked on fondly at the institution, Ash remained impassive. However, he did wonder what would he'd be like whenever he thought of being normal - being sent off to high school by Griffin, rebelling against curfews, and eventually attending a university. At ten, would he had join a baseball club and compete? At fifteen, would he had attended a homecoming dance with his first partner? At eighteen, would he had attended an Ivy League college and made a group of companions that would join him in a roadtrip to nowhere? It was a stretch for Ash, a fantasy that he was well aware that would never materialised and locked at the furthest compartments of his mind. Being normal would never occur to him. Being normal was only possible with him.

   Ash and Donato walked further down Broadway before turning left on 114th Street. When he was just about to get impatient, Ash squinted his eyes and spotted a little cafe at a little nook between further college buildings and residential areas. It was small but well-lit, with rusty wooden tables and chairs and warm lighting in the form of industrial bulbs hanging from exposed beams. Ash took a whiff and there was distinct smell of spices - cardamon, cloves, and cinnamon - in the air. The counter that was filled with cakes and other confections sat on the left of the cafe, and at the far end was the small bar with high chairs. Only one person was manning the whole place, an old lady with a sweet looking face but glinting eyes when she spotted Donato. She was expecting them both.

   "Ah, Claire!" Donato called and waved 'hello' at the lady, "Would it be much trouble if you could get me the usual? And for my companion over here..."

   "Black coffee would be okay," Ash interrupted, crossing his arms before him.

   The old lady - Claire - smiled, nodding at both Ash and Donato. Ash watched as the lady did not go straight behind the counter but to the front door of the cafe. She flipped the sign to 'CLOSED', winking to Ash when he had been caught staring. Ash gave a start before turning back following Donato to a table at the far right corner of the cafe.

   "I can see that you are familiar with her," Ash stated as he sat down opposite the other man.

   Donato waved him off. "I helped her on a small errand once," he explained, "circumstances arrived then, bang, she became my confidant of sorts."

   Ash hummed but did not pursue for further details. Their order arrived and Ash's eyes nearly bugged out at the sight of the other man's order, a painfully smelling tea and an odd green cake with white chocolate glaze. The smell of the tea was enough for Ash to grab his coffee and bring it close to his face - Colombian blend, with just the right amount of smokiness.

   "The tea is called Dulce De Leche Heaven," Donato said as he poured himself a cup. Then, to Ash's further horror, he plopped five sugar cubes into his drink. "This was an experimental tea that Claire had been working on for months. Almost no one buys it because of its sweetness apparently. I like it, though."

   "And the cake?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow at his companion.

   Donato smiled, "Matcha tea cake. I am surprised you don't know about this. These are the kind of things you young people rave about these days."

   Ash huffed and slouched back into his seat. "I haven't got the chance to go around much." Then he gave Donato a pointed look, "No thanks to you."  
  
   "That's a poor excuse," the other man defended, "You have escaped a lot of people who are trained just to find you. Also, you could have just dyed your hair or something."

   Ash gave another huff before sipping his black coffee. Cutlery tinkered as silence fell between the two men. It was starting to grate into Ash's nerves, this perpetual moments with the other man that went nowhere. Ash's sharp eyes observed Donato as the other was happily indulging his horrendous sweet tooth. Figuring out that he would always be the one making the first move, Ash broke the silence between them.

   "You said that I'm not destined to die just yet," Ash stated, crossing one leg over the other one, "You didn't leave me to die in the library and you intercepted the hospital staff as well as the authorities. You replaced my body in the morgue with a doppelganger. You really pulled all the stunts just to 'save' someone who you shouldn't really care about." Then he looked at the man in the eye. "Two years being in the dark is over."

   Donato looked back at Ash in return. "I guess it is," he agreed. Resting his chin upon his interlocking hands, Donato took a deep sigh before continuing, "Two years ago was a mess. It became very difficult for everyone to trust anyone. But if there was anything that came out of it, it was you and your brilliant mind." The man took another sip of his tea. "I'll cut to the chase. I need you."

   "I figured that one out," Ash spat as his green eyes narrowed. "For what exactly is my problem - or not, depending whether I can actually care."

   "I can see that James had given you the USB drive," Donato then took a sip, "You haven't looked into it yet?"

   "James?" Ash queried, "A Wilford Burton gave me the drive."

   "Is that the name he gave you? Damn that Englishman. He just like confusing everyone," Donato commented as he refilled his cup then putting another five sugar cubes. "Anyway, you haven't looked into it yet?"

   "No, I haven't," Ash replied, putting his hand inside his jean pocket to hold the USB drive.

   "CIA, MI6, and the Ministry of Defense in Japan had all attempted to take a look but it fried their supercomputers and even dislodged viruses that manipulated their codes," Donato explained. "Most have to shut down and reset everything."

   Ash raised his eyebrow, "And, so? How did I came into the picture?"

   "You have a program right?" Donato asked, "The one that decrypt and erases passwords. MI6 wanted a copy of it and program an even better version of it - the kind that would hopefully override the destruction command in that USB drive."

   Ash looked away. "I don't have that anymore. I don't know where it ended up."

   "Then, I guess you'll just have to work with them to create a new one." Donato then took a chunk of his cake, chewing slowly before swallowing.

   Ash clenched his fist. Was this really it? "Fine," he conceded, sitting at the edge of his chair, "Just send James, Burton, whoever to me. I'll be out of your hair in a few minutes."

   Ash made a move to leave however he abruptly stopped as Donato's pale eyes glinted under the warm ambiance of the cafe. There were no expression to them; rather, they were as if glass eyes trying to see through Ash - dissecting him under their scrutiny. Ash was used to these kind of stares although they were normally so veiled in lust that he would end up being underestimated. The surprise in their faces would make up for it. Donato's eyes however did not give Ash an impression that the man was underestimating him. It was as if he was still trying to figure Ash out even after two years of watching him closely. This is new, Ash thought as he relaxed back onto his seat.

   "That's not the only thing," Donato said. He reached inside his suit to pull out the package and rested it upon the table. "This package was a bargaining chip from the Chinese mafia."

   Ash's eyes widened. "Chinese mafia? The Lee syndicate?"

   "I did them a favour," Donato quipped before continuing, "Now that Banana Fish went to nowhere, this package and everything surrounding it now surfaced again. If fell to wrong hands, this could mean disaster." At Ash's inquiring stare, he explained, "After the Cold War, the world leaders and the United Nations became extremely paranoid of the heightening distrust between the countries. War after war, death after death. Aid and allies were no longer the solution. On the winter of 1990, anonymous representatives and programmers from the US, United Kingdom, France, South Korea, and Japan all met in Bletchley Park to invent a sort of bargaining chip between countries - something so big that everyone would silence all to submission. It was a good idea at the time - our world reacts better to fear than kindness. All of these were done behind the world leaders at the time and, no doubt, United Nations had advertently breached the trust between the countries. In their eyes, one must do what it takes to keep order."

   "And this bargaining chip?" Ash queried.

   Donato took another mouthful of his cake before answering, "On August 2 2001, the world was still riveted by the 9/11 attacks when a Japanese cryptanalyst created the first version of the algorithm that does not only decode deception but also deciphers every information that you have as a person - your businesses, your family history, your sexual partners, even your deepest desires. It was a great discovery and the rest of the programmers and representatives started to create biochips that will be inserted on every human being possible in this planet, programmed to copy every brain cell in your head. After that was done, these representatives traveled the globe and started planting these biochips starting from less conspicuous countries with lax security like in the Middle East or Southeast Asia. Once they made sure that the information could be obtained from these biochips, they began to spread it around - contaminating everyone."

   "Con-..," Ash trailed, gripping the corners of the table tight, "What do you mean by contaminating?"

   Rather than answering, Donato picked up his teaspoon and tapped on his teapot. It did not take a while for Ash to figure it out, "Water?"

   "Both saltwater and freshwater," Donato added further. "It multiplies quickly as well. So I would hazard around eighty-five point nine of the population around the world are already hosting a thousand biochips each. They are not aggressive - half of the time, these biochips are harmless molecules around our body. But they copy and omit every single of your information. The algorithm decrypts them. Then, they also attach to your genomes and are passed on to your children. Before the child is born, we already know your genetic code thanks to the biochips and algorithm."

   Ash's mouth was open the whole time, not quite certain how to react at the information he was hearing. I think I've bitten more that I can chew, was the only thought that was running in his mind. The USB drive in his jean pocket suddenly felt heavier, that once he would stand up he would fall back down again. To think that someone out was only a few punches of the keyboard away from discovering everything and anything about him - the rape, being Golzine's pet, and Banana Fish. _The letter_. It was worse than being turned inside-out because, regardless how much he could deny those things, the world would know that they would always be true.

   "The algorithm..," Ash started once he had willed his heart to slow down a little, "you mentioned 'first version'..."

   Donato nodded, "The final version was made when the biochips reached it's 150th million host. The Japanese cryptanalyst somehow liked to detour around fully completing the algorithm - saying that it needed to decode more information, it needed to be more streamlined, or it needed to be more unnoticeable. The final algorithm, however, was never used. It was fragmented into different sections. Whether programmed into a different data or contained in an empty drive, we don't know. What we know, however, is that one of them ended up in the hands of a Russian oligarch living in Ukraine who was spying for a small but expanding pro-Soviet party. MI6 had intercepted his private jet just six months ago and managed to retrieve the drive."

   The USB drive weighed heavier in his pocket. "This drive have a part of the algorithm," Ash deduced, more to himself than to Donato.

   "I need someone who could decode it for us," Donato said, resting his chin upon his interlocked fingers. "This is where you come in."

   Ash was unconvinced, "From what you just told me, I think it's better to let the sleeping dogs lie." Finally, he pulled out the USB drive and dumped it on the table.

   "We couldn't find a sharper mind than yours," Donato pressed, "The only two that could help us are out of the question. The Japanese who made it was dead and the other..." Donato let a long exhale of breath, eyes downcast. "They might as well be dead, too." But his eyes looked up again and Ash discovered what was the glint in the other's eyes all this time - determination. "You will be interested in this as well."

   Donato then opened the package to reveal a series of documents. Ash tried to watch impassively as a chunk of it was slid in front of him. The rest of the documents were wrapped again in the packaging.

   "Those are the names, ages, and brief files of Golzine's elusive associates and higher-ups," Donato stated to Ash. When Ash's gaze whipped back to Donato's, there was a little quirk at the end of his lips as he continued further, "I know you've been looking for them. I know you still feel as if your justice has not been resolved. And, believe me, I know that you have only grasped the surface - ideas of who they are and what they are. As you can see, I've covered at least those for you."

   Ash was shaking. From what? He was not too sure either. It became more and more indistinguishable when he reached for the files with a quivering hand.

   "I've only grasped the surface as well," Donato said as he finished both his tea and his cake. "However, with the algorithm, we can the fates of those that have been wronged by them. We will know everything and anything by them - they will not have the chance to defend themselves. The algorithm doesn't lie." Then, he placed a bunch of cash on the table. "Just think about it. The justice you could have had a long time ago. Not just for you, but for them as well."

   With that, Donato left Ash to his own devices. He also left the USB drive on the table.

    _"Humans can change their destiny. They have wisdom leopards don't. Besides, you're not a leopard."_

   Ash took it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> I am not too late into the Banana Fish fandom, right? RIGHT?!?
> 
> So, this is my first ever Banana Fish fanfiction and my first fanfiction in a VERY LONG while since Fanfiction.Net days. I thought I might try my hand again as a novel-writing practice - hence the long-ass chapter.
> 
> Truth to be told, I am not that fully satisfied with the chapter and it definitely felt like I left a lot of holes. However, I have a feeling I will be forever unsatisfied with it anyway so I might as well post it.


	2. "But when they drop and die"

   For weeks, the USB drive was never picked up nor moved from its spot beside Ash's laptop in the bedroom. Ash often looked at it at brief moments but never actually acknowledging it - quick glances were the only allowance he would make. For weeks, it had been quiet. Too quiet, in fact, that the silence would sometimes turn the gears in Ash's head and would out him into a slight overdrive. Donato was quiet as well; there was never a call or a text message from him. This is just like his style, Ash pondered, he likes it when I mull things over until they explode by themselves - and I will be playing by his hand. So by great determination, Ash tried to ignore the USB drive as soon as he got back from his last meeting with Donato as if it was a fly that was kept flying around the house. Of course, that did not mean that it would go away.

   Ash glued his attention to the papers for these past few weeks, taking special attention to Max Lobo's columns - more to know how his 'honorary dad' was doing rather than to the actual news that the man had been writing. As far as his columns go, it seemed to Ash that the old man still liked sticking his large nose where it should not be - commenting into politician's sleazy acquaintances, criticising large conglomerates' 'side' businesses, and more than delayed policies regarding child protection laws. Ash wondered whether Shunichi Ibe was still visiting the old man, whether he and Jessica did not go through a second divorce (knowing how hot-headed the two were, Ash reckoned that there were at least threats), and whether the both of them were still embarrassing their son, Michael. He also wondered whether him and his other friends would visit his 'grave' in Cape Cod where it was not him inside that coffin but an accurate doppelganger that Donato had somehow acquired. It even had that smile on its face, similar to how Ash smiled after reading the letter in New York Public Library.

   Stupid, Ash thought as he folded the newspaper, as if that stupid Donato could ever replicate that moment. Because Ash was sure, that he would had a tenderer smile, soft under his bliss created by those words. His only regret was not directing that smile to _him_. _You_ would light up the whole world, Ash added in his thoughts.

   Ash's thoughts then wandered to his old gang, Cain Blood, and Sing, and what they had become these days. He knew that Sing Soo-Ling became quite the overlooking leader of downtown whenever Ash wandered in disguise around Chinatown. There were also whispers of Cain Blood and his gang taking over some parts in Brooklyn whilst Alex keeping the peace on Ash's old territories. The knowledge of his gang being alive and well comforted Ash to quite a degree. They were the best of friends that Ash could ask for, after all, and they had never questioned nor looked him down when he became the leader. Cain and Sing recently joined that as well two years ago and Ash held a lot of respect for both men. Sing is sixteen now, Ash mused with a little smirk. He could imagine the little squirt being almost as tall as him with clumsy, unfamiliar long limbs that seemed to grow overnight. He could imagine his face if he evefound out that he came back from the dead for the second time.

   "Would you like to stay dead?" Donato had asked him once, "I mean 'officially', if you know what I mean." To this day, Ash did not quite know his decision just yet.

   "Next on the news today, we are going to be joined by possibly the most successful young businessman ever," a blond news anchor on the television started, "That's right, we are going to be joined by Yut-Lung Lee, the only surviving member of the powerful Lee family who are believed to have ties with the Chinese government, for an exclusive interview regarding his ever expanding slew of businesses under his belt, the politics that he swore by, and many more in a few minutes."

   "Now, this is interesting," Ash mused out loud as he grabbed another cup of coffee in the kitchen along with a buttered croissant.

   Ash settled himself back down on the sofa, eyes glued on his screen as the familiar effete man appeared. Yut Lung's features had gone sharper and he had cut his hair short but his whole demeanour was languid and sure. There was none of the coiled bitterness that he always acquired two years ago. Ash had only been aware that Yut Lung had been expanding in China, bumping shoulders with high Chinese politicians and conglomerates that were interested in making grounds in the US. The Chinese man was also never specific on his legal businesses, had branched from owning high-class clubs, managing private hospitals and dipping into the oil industry in Middle East. All under control whilst leading one of the biggest syndicates in the world and Ash speculated that

   "The perks of a manipulative mind and a pretty face", Ash muttered as he bit into his croissant.

   "I am very grateful to be here, Megan," were the first words uttered by Yut Lung, "it is always a pleasure to convey my knowledge, in which still yet to be expanded in my opinion, to other young businessmen and businesswomen that are watching today." At this, the ever present irritation that Ash would always hold for the Chinese man bubbled and he scoffed at the polite words that came out of that gob. Two years did not lessen any animosity that Ash had always felt for Yut Lung; he would never ever forgive him for hurting _him_. It seemed unfair to Ash that the world had seemed to have forgiven this bitter Chinese man. But then again, maybe two years were a little too long for the world to be steeped in harsh reality. Let the sheep continue sleeping, Ash thought, and soon enough, the wolf would make an unexpected attack.

   "Of course, I am most inspired by driven people. Ambitious and relentless," Yut Lung continued. Then, the effete man turned to the camera. It unnerved Ash - it was as if those shapely eyes were trained onto him. "With sharp eyes that would cut like a gem. I would hope to meet more people like that - those who would be able to build themselves up from nothing."

   "Surely, that would make further competition for you?" the interviewer asked.

   Yut Lung gave an amused chuckle that made Ash's eyes roll. "Having no competition is stifling. At this point, a race is much welcomed - a change of pace than usual." Yut Lung looked at the camera again with a smirk on his face. "Bitter people who hold themselves in the past crash and burn."

   "Look at this guy talk," Ash muttered as he grabbed the remote control and turned off the television, "Who are you calling bitter people anyway? Don't make me laugh."

   With more than a stomp on his feet, Ash trudged towards the kitchen and drained his cold coffee in the sink. He still was not quite sure how he would react if he ever saw Yut Lung. He was quite aware that the Chinese man had known about Banana Fish especially when Ash saw him suddenly getting chummy with Golzine and he had manipulated Sing's men at that time. For what? Ash did not quite know the reason fully himself. Ash was not quite sure that he had enough energy to find out. For the moment, he was quite content that he would never had to see him (and he would fight so that Donato would never make him to).

   Ash's phone rang as soon as he was finished in the kitchen. "Hello?" he answered abruptly.

   Ash was greeted by the Englishman's voice amused at the other end, "I see that someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. What got your knickers in a twist?"

   "I could think of a couple," Ash retorted, "hearing you is one of them."

   That did not seem to deter the chuckle that came out from the Englishman. Rolling his eyes, Ash finally asked, "Where are we meeting?"

   "Kew Gardens," Mr Burton replied, "You'll meet me and someone else by Wallenberg Square then we'll walk to our location." Then, with another chuckle, he continued, "Just warning you now, this other person have seen your photograph and is quite taken by you. Told her that you are not all that much in real life but there is only so much I can do especially if you're talking about a girl with a fancy."

   "Great," Ash said sarcastically, "Someone else other than you will be flirting with me the whole time."

   Mr Burton sighed, "I told you before, that time was not flirting. You'll know when I'll be flirting."

   "Rue the day," Ash muttered.

   "Anyway," Mr Burton interrupted, "I'll suggest that you get there by four o' clock of this afternoon, at the latest. I trust you have the source code for the program?"

   "That's right," Ash confirmed as his eyes flitted to the pile of papers on his coffee table. It was a miracle that his documents that he had hidden inside his old mattress were never successfully tampered with and all of the basic source codes and instructions for the programs that he built himself were saved. His laptop however somehow had been factory-reset and it would take a vast amount of time for him to restore all of his information. He reckoned it was tampered when he was being tailed by Foxx and his laptop had then immediately erased all of the stored files before the goons got to them.

   "Excellent," complimented Mr Burton and, somehow, Ash imagined that the other would be acquiring an excited gleam in his eyes, "Bring the USB drive with you as well. Having it in person seems to be best rather than leaving it there. The security in your flat is good but not that good, I must admit."

   Ash's face paled, "What do you mean?"

   "Look at your underwear drawer," the Englishman said, the amused tone of his voice evident.

   Ash rushed to his bedroom, almost toppling over when his foot got caught by the doorway. He lunged towards his chest of drawers and opened the third compartment. His eyes nearly bugged out as he took in the the array of unfamiliar rainbow coloured underwear that replaced his neutrally-coloured Calvin Klein briefs. They were not just plainly coloured as well as Ash was horrified to see one of them with a childish jack-o-lantern pattern. It gets worse, Ash could only thunk, blushing when he picked out a silky red thong with a see-through heart on the front. On top of the underwear was a scented pink envelope was placed, with many love-hearts drawn in the middle. 'Hope you like the token of my heart!' was what said in the card inside complete with more love-hearts and kisses.

   "What have you done?!" Ash roared onto the phone.

   The Englishman had the gall to laugh out loud, "Hey, your underwear drawer looks so boring so I took the liberty to upscale it a bit while you were out last night."

   "Upscale, my ass!" Ash yelled, crumpling the thong in his hand. Oh dear God, how he wanted to burn it.

   "And your monthly allowance won't start until next week - that's what he said to me anyway," Mr Burton continued, giggling at points, "so I guess you're stuck with those!"

   Ash could feel a vein popping. "You piece of shit..."

   "What can I say? I'm from MI6," Mr Burton said, "It is not everyday that I have the liberty to go out of the country and I'm bored. Since we'll be working on this, I think I'll initiate you on my personal tradition - like a real colleague!" With another laugh, Mr Burton ended the call, "Laters!"

   With deep breaths, Ash removed the phone from his hear and let it sag from his hand by his side. He had half a mind to hurl it at the wall but then stopped as he vaguely wondered if it would actually go through the other side and Ash was not too keen to explain that to his neighbours. Dragging his feet back to the living room, Ash secretly planned with a vengeance how he would kill an overseas intelligence officer and how he would get away with it.

 

   "So, you think this guy's legit?" were the first words, spoken loud and incredulously by a young lady, that reached Ash's vicinity as he moved closer to Wallenberg Square, Kew Gardens as the time on his watch reached to four o'clock in the afternoon. He immediately picked out Wilford Burton even amidst in the crowd, decked out in his Ralph Lauren trench coat and shiny Tom Ford patent shoes. It's like he's not even trying to blend in, Ash mused in his head and raising an eyebrow at the Englishman's direction. Beside Mr Burton was a petite girl with dark hair and dark skin. When Ash caught a glimpse of her eyes, they were deep brown and slightly slanted. Ash guessed that she was of a South Asian descent. 

   "Ah!" Mr Burton exclaimed as his eyes finally spotted Ash, "The man of the hour is here!" With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he added, "So which one did you go for?"

   Ash made sure to glare harder than normal at the other man. "The normal-looking one," he muttered under his breath whilst simultaneously thinking through his own revenge in his head.

   "Ah, I know that one," Mr Burton stated with smug smirk upon his face, "It is that plain white one with the cute ribbon on the front. Would make as a nice present if you have any lovers."

   "Think what you like," Ash muttered again, blushing. He then moved his attention to Mr Burton's companion, "I am guessing you are an agent from the other one? You look young for this, no offense."

   The girl smirked at Ash. "Speak for yourself - you're younger than I am," she said and there was a little satisfaction in her eyes when Ash's eyes widened a little bit. She then introduced herself, "My name is Saadhika Bhattacharya, an one of the analyst, programmers, and technicians that will meet you today."

   Ash nodded and, with a little note of embarrassment, he began to introduce himself, "My name is-."

  "Ash Lynx, Aslan Callenreese, Christopher Winston, Alfonso Tornincasa... I've heard them all," Saadhika butted in rather rudely, "One look at you and it's hard to believe that you caused all that trouble with Golzine's stocks that time." She then trailed her dark eyes up and down Ash. "But then, again, that might be the charm." 

   Saadhika then made a gesture towards the road to both Ash and Mr Burton, urging them to follow her. She did not wait for them, however, as Ash watched her march away ahead of her with slight astonishment.

   "I thought I am meeting someone who has a crush on me?" Ash turned to Mr Burton with one eyebrow raised.

   Mr Burton shrugged, "It's hard to tell with her. However, she did look at your photo a touch second more than she usually does with other recruits. So I figured she might like you, at least."

   Ash left it at that as both of them followed Saadhika down Metropolitan Ave. It was little grey due to the darkening sky however Ash observed that it did not deter the bustling community that the group passed through. They had come across Jewish groups in their ceremonial attires ready for either a bar or bat mitzvah. Turning into a corner, they were almost bumped into loud and happily drunk Korean students (who were too early to be drunk, if Ash were to be honest). The rows of locally-owned shops and chain businesses they passed by were still full and busy. Ash noted that there were many hearts and flowers decor on many of the shop windows. That's right, Ash mused, Valentine's day is just around the corner.

   "By the way," Ash started, "how did the overhaul of CIA went?"

   Saadhika glanced at Ash with a rather miffed expression. "Didn't you see the news for the past two years?" she said, "It was hectic, of course. A lot of the high-ranking officials needed to be replaced immediately and you know how much paperwork that took! It was bad enough that they never cared to look at the actual people who give a damn."

   Ash smirked at her. "I did," he said, shrugging, "however, I speculated that it was more that."

   Saadhika sighed as she walked faster. "I'll tell you when we get there. We'll see if you are privy to your own amusement."

   For a small lady, she has quite a big temper, Ash thought as he watched Saadhika move faster, her arms swinging in a more determined pace. Beside him, Mr Burton tapped his shoulder and shook his head when Ash looked at him from the corner of his eye. 'Don't play with her too much,' what Mr Burton's teasing eyes seemed to say to Ash. 'Watch me,' was Ash's reply to that with his own set of mischievous eyes.

   The group's walk finally ended at 122nd Street as they stopped in front of a good-sized property. "Courtesy from Donato," Saadhika explained as she pushed the gates open to let Ash and Mr Burton into the property. At first glance, the property included a red-bricked suburban house, a simple lawn, and a gravel driveway. It was like any other family home with a warm appearance that could have been filled by an equally warm family - parents who work and kids attending school but they would spend quality time over the weekends. That only exists in fantasies, Ash thought to himself as the group walked onto the driveway leading to the house.

   "It's me," Saadhika called out as she knocked onto the door. 

   "Hold on a minute," a young voice called from the inside. After a familiar jingling of the door chain and a click, a familiar kid opened the door. Ash recalled the kid introduced himself as 'Silver Johnny'. "We made tacos for a snack! We're going to be in for a long night, I bet."

   The kid, Silver Johnny, turned his bright eyes at Ash. "It's been a while, Ash!" he exclaimed, tousling his hair before turning his attention to Mr Burton, "Her Majesty's called again. I think she's getting a bit pissed off from over the pond."

   Ash raised his eyebrow at Mr Burton, "Her Majesty...?"

   "Not the Queen but, man, do I wish otherwise," Mr Burton replied, running his hand through his hair, "I have a feeling that our beloved monarch will be easier to deal with."

   Silver Johnny giggled at that as the kid stepped away from the door to let the three inside the house. A whiff of cooked ground beef and spices were the ones the greeted Ash first as he moved to remove his shoes by the door. The house was illuminated by warm lightning from the four wall lamps at the corner of the living room. In the middle was a sleek black coffee table where numerous open laptops were resting. A television was running at a comfortably low volume at one side of the coffee table and on the other side was a long plush looking sofa. On the hardwood floor, many floor cushions were scattered. There were also many wires and cables, all connected from extension leads or from the wall to the open laptops. Ash reminded himself to be mindful of those.

   "Ah! He's here! He's here!" A cheerful voice came from behind the kitchen wall. Ash looked on as a tall guy with a short cropped hair emerged from behind. "I hope we made enough chili!"

   One by one, the occupants in the house finally revealed themselves to Ash. Ash counted four new people, all ranging from different races and ethnicity. Two were cautious but polite as they greeted him; two, which included the guy with the short cropped hair, were a little bit more cheerful. The only similarity that all acquired were their age ranges, all in their late teens or in twenties. Ash thought that all of them together almost looked like university students working on a project together.

   "We are all from the CIA," Saadhika explained as she moved and sat in front of one of the open laptops, "So, don't go underestimating us as if we are just mere college students."

   Ash laughed a little, "I've experienced that before so don't worry." Then, thinking of Sing Soo-Ling, he added, "I've met someone younger than I am who have more tact than any of us right now."

   Christina, one of the African-American of the group, gave Ash a smirk and flipped her bushy hair behind her back. "If you understand that, then I think we are all going to get along. When Donato first told us that you are going to help, I am not too sure what to think."

   When Ash blinked in confusion, Daniel - the guy with the cropped hair - explained, "You've escaped some of the most highly-secured places in America, came back from the dead twice, and infiltrated sensitive databases from a public library without leaving any hint of trace. So, we thought you would be a some kind of a self-assured, high and mighty dickhead rather than a normal-looking dude."

   "Just like our superiors," the Chinese, who introduced himself to Ash by his English name, Mark, muttered under his breath.

   Joshua, the other African-American, mused out loud, "They think they know everything. But they don't even know this building."

   Ash gave Saadhika a pointed look. "So, CIA has fragmented," he concluded and, truthfully, he was not that surprise at all. 

   "No agency is working as one unit anymore. Gone were the action movie days where CIA and FBI were the good guys and the rest of the world a villain. You, of all people, should know that," Saadhika told Ash as she grabbed a taco and piled it high with chili, guacamole, and salsa. She continued as she munched on her snack, "The CIA is a wreckage and desperate to build up its name again so that's why they started to get interested in deciphering the final algorithm."

   "A desperate power move basically," Mr Burton chipped in, grabbing his own taco.

   Ash then turned to the Englishman, "The same goes for MI6 and MI5?"

   "I've been out of the country too much so I am not sure what's going on there," Mr Burton admitted, lounging back into the grey sofa, "Most of the departments are just keeping an ear out of what's going on in here especially when we learned that US is planning a military coup d'etat in the Middle East. The public in the UK is already at arms, fearing that the new Parliament is willing for the country to be made into US' whipping boy again. Last time I heard, it's the same in the countries where there are large American bases. So, you can say that we are still pretty much intact on the outside. Internally, it could be the nine circles of hell for all I know."

   "Would you know?" Ash pushed, arms resting upon his knees.

   Mr Burton smirked, "I'm one of them after all. We get along with colleagues but when you work where the most expensive, and sometimes destructible, tools and information are at your disposal, you'll find out that you and your colleagues have very different agendas." Mr Burton's eyes then scanned the other youths, whose eyes were trained onto him. "All of you would also know, right?"

   Ash also trailed his eyes onto the others. They were a little tense - no, that was not the word. Mildly irked was probably the better description with their eyes sporting a calm facade but Ash had always noticed the little gestures that would give one's discomfort - a slight twitch of an eyebrow, a little pursing of the corner of the lips, or a light tapping of a finger on the thigh. Ash had to give it to them; he reckoned it would take an professional interrogator a long while to spot these subtle hints.

   "That doesn't matter at this point, Wilford," Saadhika called out as she started tapping on her keyboard, "Let's focus on our short term goal in the meantime." She held out a hand to Ash. "Your paperwork, please."

   Slightly taken aback by the other's bluntness, Ash pulled off his coat and opened the zip inside. Then, he pulled out a wad of papers and handed them over to Saadhika. 

   "Didn't have time to translate them myself on my laptop," he added as the papers were taken away from his hand, "and I also managed to keep a copy of the basic source code of my program which could only break into systems with simple passwords with distinguishable names and words." With a bitter smirk, he continued, "Sick as most of my professors were when growing up, they have quite sentimental passwords locking their computers."

   "And you think you won't have one, Ash?" Mr Burton asked with a knowing quirk at the side of his mouth. Ash only gave the other man  pointed glare of a warning.

   "That's fine," Saadhika told Ash as she flipped through the document, "We were expecting do complete this from the bottom up. You actually did half of the job for us looking through this lot."

   Christina was also looking through the paperwork with gleaming eyes. "This is amazingly intricate work you've done," she complimented Ash, "These instructions are programmed to recognise even a hint of the names - even a combination of numbers that links to users such as birthdates. This must have taken a very long time for you to complete."

   Ash shrugged. "I was sixteen when I started," he said as he moved to analyse his own work. He was already thinking of formulas and codes to better his work.

   "You were some sixteen-year-old, then," Daniel pointed out as he finished off his own plate of tacos.

   Ash looked down, "Didn't want to at first. But, hey, how would I survive otherwise?"

   At the corner of his eye, Saadhika gave him a look and, if Ash were to be honest, it unnerved him. Ash then noticed how her eyes were large but definitely not as expressive nor as innocently-looking as _his_. However, the similarity and the fact they still bore down into his psyche still discomforted Ash to the point were he held up his paper to block his face away from Saadhika.

   Thankfully for Ash, Saadhika looked away a second after he did as she turned her attention to the rest of the group. "Let's rock and roll, then," she announced, dividing the papers to the others, "We'll start off copying this source code then implement any additional perks you could think of. After that, we'll combine this into one before trying to figure out how could we get that USB to cooperate with us so it won't turn out laptops into convenient bombs." She then turned back to Ash, "Donato told us to let you take over deciphering the algorithm once we can actually get in." She then gave a smirk, "but so tell us if you run into any trouble - Burton told us about your notorious lone-wolfing and, quite frankly, that kind of thing irritates me."

   Ash widened his eyes a little before giving Saadhika his own smirk back. "Can't promise anything," he simply said to the other before grabbing a laptop for himself.

   Everyone got to work then and Ash was slowly realising the difference between working with his professors back then and working with this particular group now. There was silence but there was no tension between the people in this room. Ash had speculated that Mr Burton was the lookout as he was positioned the furthest away from the rest of the group, taking a glance every now and then outside of the large living room window. Thus, he was a little surprise when the other man grabbed a laptop and started typing away. "You think I am just all brawn and no brains at first, right?" Mr Burton teased Ash, "How come did I manage to break into your flat in the first place?" Ash only looked away at that comment.

   Mark, who was also in charge of the disabling remote access outside of the house, detecting rouge users, and constantly updating their IP addresses, was the one who talked the most by regularly updating the team if someone was trying to hack into their work. "I'll give them worms next time," he had commented once with irritation, "normally, we would open their remote systems, hack their accounts, and just shut down their computers from there. Then, plant a bug that would give them the blue screen every time they try to find our IP addresses. But that's too lenient for me."

   Other than those musings from the Chinese, there were nothing but the tapping of fingers on the keyboard, munching from eating the remaining tacos, and sometimes loud exclamations from the frustrated part of the group. Ash mused that most of them were at least midway crazy from eternally looking at bright screens and tapping on numbers and formulas. Not that I am not midway crazy myself, Ash thought as he spared a glance at the irritated faces. Saadhika in particular had this habit of biting her fingernails and growling under her breath every now and then. There were also many moments where she had been glaring at his way. Looking apologetic might had been the proper way to react to that, however Ash knew that the part of the code that Saadhika was working on specifically had additional perks when trying to be replicated by someone else other than him (who knew exactly how to overcome that). Ash had thought about helping the poor lady but when he looked over her computer it turned out that she had already solved those additional perks by working on a decryption formula that would detect these perks, making it possible for her to finally erase them. Clever girl, Ash thought as he continued to work on his own piece.

   A few hours later, the group had finally copying Ash's source code. Ash, naturally, had finished first although just two seconds earlier than the next person, Christina. Joshua and Mark had finished at the same time and Daniel came after with a groan of relief. Saadhika had took around ten minutes more before calling it. Ash wondered what kind of new instructions did the woman included to take that long. Mr Burton joined them from his spot by the window. Ash observed as he laid his computer on the coffee table then gently laid a woollen blanket over Silver Johnny who was sleeping on one of the armchairs. If Ash thought that the Englishman had acted like Blanca before, Mr Burton was definitely acting like Max right now. Then, the group shuffled to upload their work onto Saadhika's laptop. With Ash's guidance, they had finally completed the program in a few minutes and stored it in a separate SD card.

   "We might have made the most awesome password breaker ever in existence," Joshua commented as he scrolled the source code of the program.

   "Let's see it completed then," Christina added before turning to Saadhika, "Did you have any ideas on how to bypass that destruction command on that USB drive? I'm not too keen on plugging that thing on one of our laptops and explode."

   "I was just looking at the footages on why it was triggered in the first place," Saadhika said as she opened her video player on her laptop. Locking eyes at Ash, she continued, "You might have some ideas."

   Ash moved in to look at the footages. The first one was from an agent who had plugged the USB drive to what looked like his personal computer. A second later, it froze his computer and had reset everything to factory setting. A couple more tries and it seemed to Ash that it short-circuited the agent's computer and the man did not even manage to power up his computer again. The next footage was a little bit more promising as it was taken from an MI6 office. The computers and desktops on sight were all latest machines and from what Ash could see on their computer screens, they were also incredibly fast.

   "The processors in these computers?" Ash queried.

   "Intel Core i9-9900K," Mr Burton answered. "With terrorism threats and cyber attacks, MI6 cannot afford to even be 'reasonably' cheap nowadays."

   And it seemed to have paid off, Ash thought as the MI6 agents in the footage plugged the USB to their computers without triggering the machines to reboot. It all went downhill when they came across a command prompt screen requesting a password. Ash watched with interest when the MI6 agents opened up a decryption program and once they had started typing, there was smoke started coming out of their desktops. Whoever invented this algorithm is an aggressive one, Ash thought as he observed the MI6 agents scrambling to cool down their computers and unplugged the USB drive into their systems.

   "Even supercomputers, with their aggressive decryption programs, never stood a chance," Joshua added as his eyes were nervously glued onto the screen.

   Ash had to agree at that comment as the fiasco from the MI6 headquarters was raised tenfold to the CIA's IBM supercomputers and the Fujitsu's supercomputers from Japan's Defense Intelligence Headquarters as they fizzled immediately when a more intricate decryption program attempted to bypass the password. When it was shown aggression, it will get even more aggressive, Ash thought as he observed spywares had been dislodged and encrypted into the supercomputers from the videos. The agents then shut down their whole systems and, with frustration on their faces, dislodged the USB from the computers.

   "The first one seemed like a test run," Ash finally told Saadhika when he finished reviewing the footages, "as hardly anyone would own anything older than a Windows 7 computer - and that's stretching it. It's too weak so it failed."

   "But the supercomputers failed too," Daniel reminded Ash.

   Ash nodded but countered, "That's because the agents think they can get away with aggressively erasing the password altogether - which obviously did not work at all." With a finger on his chin, he mused, "Whoever encrypted the algorithm in that USB wants a middle ground. If you look carefully at the footage from the MI6 headquarters, it took exactly five minutes before their computers starter smoking. With the CIA and Defense Intelligence Headquarters, it only took around one minute and thirty seconds to recognise what they're doing."

   "Sound like someone wants rough but not too much," Mr Burton chuckled.

   Christina, who had been focusing on Ash's words, broke out of her stupor and chastised the older man, "Why is it always innuendos with you?!"

   "The USB started damaging the computers once the it detects the decryption programs on both accounts," Mark interrupted, resting his chin on his hand as he replayed the videos again, "Our password breaker is some sort of a decryption program as well. There is still a chance it will fry our computers despite building them ourselves."

   "If that's the case then there is still a good chance that we might actually access into the USB and get to the algorithm," Ash said back, fiddling with the USB in his pocket, "It's harder to detect programs if your central processing unit is not on the market."

   "We can the stop complaining about CIA being cheapstakes," a grinning Joshua light-heartedly commented.

   Saadhika then held out a hand to Ash for the second time. Ash, with just a little bit of hesitation, handed over the USB drive. She held it out in front of her, slowly twirling it around within her fingers. "Whoever they are," she started, "won't just let us go pass. We will still need a password."

   "No, they won't," Ash agreed, "but my code never instructs the system to bypass it. It delves a little deeper without being intrusive, looking for clues translated in binary codes for the passwords itself rather than creating instructions to delete them. All without triggering security systems. It then stores the passwords in case I'll need to hack the system again." Then Ash became suddenly skeptical, "But I am not too sure if it will be enough."

   "Clever," Saadhika complimented Ash, "and I've looked through the formulas in your code. They should be enough and, as you have observed, the USB doesn't really like any strong decryption programs and, I predict, a strong spyware at that." With a deep breath, she then addressed the rest of the team, "Let's rock and roll, then. Everyone, we'll have duplicate screens so we can all have a go at interpreting these binary codes and list the ones that stood out the most. We have a five minute window to access the USB if we are going by the MI6 footage but we can probably stretch it a little longer as we are not as intrusive." The, she added with a confident smile, "Binary code is pretty much plain English for us so I have confidence in our skills. Unless you're different, Ash?"

   Ash smirked back at Saadhika, "I've been taught by the most overpaid computer scientists in America. If I slip today, then they were definitely not worth the money."

   With that, everyone including Ash scrambled to link the computers together as mere monitors save Saadhika's laptop. When everything was set in place, Saadhika finally inserted the password breaker into her computer and powered it up before shutting it down, making it as a background process. Ash then handed over the USB drive to Saadhika and watched closely when it was finally inserted into one of the UBS ports. Everyone held their breath as the computer started scanning the USB Drive. 'No threats detected,' a notification said after a minute but the group did not relax as Saadhika opened the USB drive. Immediately, they were greeted by a black box with a dotted line at the bottom.

   "We'll see if this is a testament to your greatness," Saadhika lightly commented with a grin.

   "You flatter me," Ash dismissively said but his eyes glinted with excitement as Saadhika opened the password-breaker. He knew what would happen next, of course, but it never stopped him from analysing deeper, from looking at faults and solutions, and from searching for improvements. What he did not anticipate was how well interwoven the others' additional codes in his program. It made it faster, smoother, with perks that he had never thought of before. And we all have worked on this together, Ash thought with fondness.

   "Two minute mark," Christina clocked in, looking at her watch with an intense gaze.

   Ash could not help but chip in, "Just a little longer. We just need to input the final instruction."

   "Here is goes," Saadhika stated as she furiously typed on her computer.

   Saadhika hit 'ENTER' and the whole room held their breath, looking the screens and waiting. For what? No one knew but no matter what it was, it was anticipated - wanted as if it was part of an answer to the questions that were eternally held. The clock ticked by and it was the only other sound, other than the whirring music of the laptops, that was present in the room. Some of them had started biting their fingernails (Saadhika, in particular) and the others could not help but tap on something else other than the keyboards. The whirring got louder.

   Then, the screens blacked out. Although there were not shut down, Ash's throat (and quite possibly the others' too) still tightened, feeling of failure on his work bubbling over.

   "Have we failed...?" someone in the room trailed - Mr Burton, Saadhika, or possibly him as well.

   Then, the screens went back to the same desktop but with an interesting addition as Ash and the rest found out with curious looks. The numbers '0' and '1' littered the screens in many rows. It was the same with the other monitors however the numbers were laid out differently. Just after a few seconds, a female robotic voice from Saadhika's laptop called out, "You have five minutes."

   "Start translating," Saadhika ordered.

   Everyone got into their positions at her instruction, all reaching out for a pen and paper. Five minutes, Ash mused in his head as he already translated the first ten binary codes into their alphabets, we might just make it. And it looked like it too as the others were working just as hard as Ash, reminding him yet again that these young men and women were not college students but a range of analysts and programmers under CIA (with possibly their own agendas and targets). Ash would have not thunk of this before but now he was surprising himself on how he was enjoying working with them. It was almost working on an attack strategy with his gang albeit in a smaller way.

   Before they knew it, ten minutes had gone past and the system had changed into their normal desktops with no more binary code littering the screens. "I think I got them all," Ash commented before turning to the others.

   "Same here," Saadhika confirmed as everyone else nodded their heads.

   Joshua, who was looking over his notes, had his chin in his hand. "But do any of you recognise any of this?" he queried, "I mean, I am not too sure if this is any of Base encoding."

   "I don't think they are," Mark added, "the letters and numbers are arranged too orderly. It's like it was only random letters and numbers laid out neatly for fun."

   "A new type of encoding that we are not familiar of?" Christina asked, scratching behind her bushy hair.

   Ash looked closer at the neatly arranged random letters and numbers, scanning his eyes for any anomalies. Despite the many numbers that had littered his screen before, his translation only ended in one neat line:

**A c 1 E g 4 H j 1 6 n 1 2 P r 8 T u 3 2 W y 1 2 8 b D 1 2 4**

   Wait, Ash suddenly thought as he read the line over. Then, it all clicked in his head and Ash found himself how he could have missed something so simple. He had an urge to laugh; he had always try to look too far into the future, to always look for the complicated problems when a simple solution had always been staring at his face.

   "Have you noticed something in these lines?" Ash asked Saadhika.

   Saadhika sighed as she rubbed her temple, "Other than this is not code language, no. Not really."

   "Have you learned mathematics, Saadhika?" Ash asked with a teasing grin and an eaqually teasing gleam in his eyes. His grin amplified even more when the other gave her a dirty look.

   "I hope you aren't trying to antagonise me, boy," Saadhika warned with an irritated glare but it soon turned into a confused frown when Ash raised on eyebrow and gestured toward her screen.

   Ash continued to observe with a knowing smile when Saadhika scanned her screen again with more intent than one would have. His smile widened further when it seemed that everything also clicked in Saadhika's head when her eyes widened and her jaw dropped with was the same reaction he had done. In a fit of excitement, Ash childishly bounced on his seat and raised his hand to high-five _hi-_. 

   Oh, _he's_ not in New York anymore, Ash suddenly thought as his stomach dropped and his raised hand fell down by his side again, clenched and determined for his nails to dig deeper into his palm. Ash was only half aware as the others listened to Saadhika's explanation of the sequences in the lines and the anomalies they held. His head hurt and the pain just kept on blooming even as Ash dug his hands into his eyes to numb the feeling. Stop, Ash commanded, just stop. His ears were filled with cotton and his eyes saw nothing; could not hear anything, could not see anything.

   "Ash," someone called out and when a hand went down on his shoulder, Ash finally came to his senses and whipped his gaze towards Mr Burton who was sporting a subtle but sympathetic look. Ash wondered how deep he was in that he had never even felt the other come close to him.

   "We've found out the letters that were anomalies in our sequences," Mr Burton said and Ash was thankful that the other man did not push, "You've got your letter, I presume?"

   Ash nodded, "Yeah."

   "Then, let's open that USB now," Mr Burton suggested, removing his hand from Ash's shoulder and straightening up, "I have a feeling the guys would like their beds now. You can stay over the night if you want."

   Ash shook his head, avoiding Mr Burton's eyes. "No, thanks," he replied, "I would like to have my own bed. Besides, I was a gang leader so sleep was a luxury that I rarely had anyway."

   "Suit yourself," Mr Burton shrugged and Ash watched in slight relief when the Englishman finally turned himself away from Ash to move back with the others.

   Running his fingers through his hair, Ash berated himself for letting himself go like that. They can't see me crying, Ash told himself, no one can ever see me cry. With a final deep breath to compose himself back again, Ash got up and scooted himself closer to the rest of the group. He noticed Saadhika giving him an imploring look again at the corner of his eyes but he brushed it off as he joined the rest of the group's discussion. As Mr Burton's confirmation, the group had finally found the rest of the letters in their own sequences. Ash found out that three of the group had translated red herrings as the sequences were different from the others. "It's like the system thinks I'm worthless!" Daniel had exclaimed, much to everyone else's amusement. 

**A U L N**

   They were the final letters.

   "Ulna or Luna," Mark chipped in, "They were the only words that I could think of. Unless they are actually abbreviations."

   Saahika turned to Mr Burton. "Can you link these two to that Japanese cryptoanalyst?"

   Mr Burton shook his head. "Not much from the files we acquired," he said, "She's Japanese and I know there is a thing called moon-viewing festivals over there. Donato said that she was never fond of these kind of festivals. This apparently shocked him; he said that this person seemed to look like one of those peaceful sorts who liked watching nature."

   Donato personally knew this person, then? Ash queried in his head and his mind flitted back to his keeper. It seemed that he would have more questions for his keeper than he had originally intended.

   Saadhika then clapped her hands together. "Right, ulna it is," she concluded and, as Ash anticipated, she was met with disbelief as well as outspoken counterarguments from the rest of the group. She had then sighed and explained herself, "Mr Burton there have given us the clues himself. That crytoanalyst is the kind who surprises anyone. 'Ulna' is part of our skeletal anatomy; nothing that would fit her, us, and anything that we are associated with. She would pick a word so random out of the blue and would leave everyone else stumped." With a smirk, she added, "Except for us, of course."

   Ash noticed that the rest were still unconvinced but Saadhika nonetheless entered the word into the black box and pressed ' ENTER'. This girl is something else, Ash thought with a shake of his head but, as with everyone else, looked at Saadhika's screen with bated breath.

   A minute went by. Then, two more minutes came after.

   "Wait, what was happening?!" Christina exclaimed and Ash reckoned that she had every right too as well as others in the room.

   The taskbar of the computer wavered. Then, some of the icons on the screen were being wiped out before appearing again in different positions. The clock on the screen was being manipulated to the wrong time and date. And glitches, some were accompanied with small pictures of what looked like silky strands, started filling up the screen.

   "Mark, get the emergency communication ready," Saadhika ordered.

   Ash was only mildly aware as the Chinese man immediately unplugged the HDMI adapter from his own laptop before typing furiously on it as well as scrolling through his smartphone. However, all were caught by a loud crack and electrical sparks from the USB connector. Ash, and maybe everyone else, feared the worst at this moment and his brain was now working on the escape plan of action before the whole house blew up.

   However, he was caught off-guard when everything seemed to stop. The USB connector stopped crackling and the glitches were gone. In fact, the screen blacked out again. But then a white screen began to fade in and Ash watched with fascination when he spotted a mixture of grey codes alternatively running up and down the screen in columns. Then, a black ball began to expand in front of the grey codes in the middle of the screen. Ash realised as the ball began to grew larger that they were various complex mathematical formulas shaped in a sphere. At the corner of his eye, one of the group ran a finger on the touchpad and the sphere matched the movement of the finger.

   "This is it," Mr Burton concluded as he straightened up but kept his eye on the screen, "this is the part of the algorithm."

   The rest of the group gave a long exhale of breath. "We've finally done it," Joshua sighed as he fell back and hugged one of the living room cushions. The others followed their relief.

   Ash watched as Saadhika, who was looking the most composed out of them, turn off the computer and unplugged the USB drive. Ash carefully took it from her hand when it was handed back to him, a little startled at how hot the USB became. It cooled down after a few seconds and Ash placed it back in his jean pocket.

   "We're counting on you to decipher that," Saadhika said as she unplugged all the wires from her computer, "Thank you for lending your program again. We might be able to hack the others using this but we might contact you if we need any help." Then, with a wry smile, she looked at Ash as she ended, "Of course, if it got too much, you can also rely on us."

   Fetching his coat, Ash also gave a small smile at the group as he put it on. "The best brains in the world at my disposal?" Ash teased, "I might as well take advantage of that."

   Ash smiled further when Saadhika gave him a shake of her head before heading off to the living room door and got out. When he was only a few blocks away from the house, his phone vibrated. 'Well done,' the text read and, for some reason, Ash was not as irritated.

 

   The night breeze was freezing but the rare sound of quietness that Ash did not even think could befall New York was tempting enough for him to spend just a few minutes out before heading back to his apartment. He was back in Manhattan via the F line subway from Queens and he was thankful that he was not assaulted by the usual noise that he was used to. There were only a handful of cars out from his brief walk out of 42 St-Bryant Park Subway Station. New York was in a doze, with bright lights still filled the streets and no stars from the sky above. Ash wondered as ever if he would ever find stars in New York.

   For some reason, Ash stopped by the New York Public Library and, rather morbidly, sat down on the very bench where it happened. He was not too sure how he got here himself; he has not visited the library at all in two years and, not a long while back, Ash had found himself getting less and less attached to the place. Somehow, there was nothing in there that would tempt him back and even the spontaneous urges to research something never came. He was dead to the world and, apparently, that included the things that he used to love. His heart clenched in a short but sudden moment of panic. It was for the best, Ash told himself as he took deep breaths for composure.

   Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out the USB drive. For some miracle, the thing was only just as dilapidated as the time when Mr Burton gave it to him. It would be tough just breaking this thing, Ash concluded in his head as he twirled it around. Then, he stopped as something on its side caught his eye. Ash thought it was a oddly shaped scratch but as he looked closer, he saw very small engraving of two feathers connected by the ends of their hollow shafts. Whether this was a design preference or something deeper, Ash could not help but to think of the possibilities. If he even berated himself from being in too deep with curiosity, it was definitely gone unnoticed by Ash himself as he fetched his phone to dial either Mr Burton or Saadhika to update them with his observation.

   "You!"

   Ash froze stiff. His fingers hovered over the numbers but he did not dare to move them at all. This can't be happening now, Ash thought in panic as he recalled that accusatory voice over and over again. Ash never thought, never imagined, that this day would come. He should have been more careful; this was Manhattan, after all, and there were more than enough chances that someone would finally recognise him no matter how long he had been gone. But it finally happened and even Ash could run, he could not be running forever. So, he placed both the USB drive and his phone in his pockets, took a deep breath, and faced the familiar eyes that had always blazed with fire even from the first time he had seen them all those years ago.

   "Sing," Ash greeted in the calmest voice that he could muster, "It's been a while."

   If possible, the other's dark eyes burned even more into him but Ash nonetheless smiled at the familiar demeanour and at the differences that he had immediately noticed. Sing Soo-Ling had grown almost to Ash's height and if the other were any closer, Ash's eyes would only be mere milliliters higher than the young Chinese. Sing's voice had also gone a little deeper but still retained the spitting fire it held. Ash thought that the Sing in front of him was larger than life, larger than what Ash used to be, with square shoulders and straight back that spoke determination. Ash tried to not let this bother him.

   "You died," Sing spat as his eyebrows furrowed further, "I saw you - you, on that metal counter top, in that cold morgue, with that stupid smile on your face despite the fact that you bled out for hours!"

   Ash was quiet for a minute before finally speaking out, "But I am not now."

   Sing let out bitter laugh, "No - of course, you fucking aren't! But that is not helping me out how much this is fucking with me!"

   "I was supposed to die," Ash started.

   "Oh, that would make me feel so much better!" Sing roared as he strode towards Ash.

   Ash was tempted to flinch back, to head toward the opposite direction as fast as he could. However, he stood his ground. Sing was one other person that deserved this; Ash owed it to him many years ago. Ash licked his dry lips as he turned his body towards Sing for the impending confrontation, for the fire that was going to be thrown at him. Ash told himself that he was not afraid.

   Sing was in Ash's face and the blazing eyes pinned his own green ones to attention. "You need to explain yourself," the Chinese spat, fiery eyes and snarl unwavering as he stared directly at Ash.

   Ash let out a small chuckle. "To be honest, I have no idea how this happened myself. I got saved - well, dragged back to the land of living more like - by someone," he explained, "I call him my keeper."

   Sing queried, "Is this keeper of yours another mafia?"

   "Again, not sure," Ash answered, "but he had dealings with random mafias and the CIA so he's still shady as fuck."

   Sing was definitely not happy about the vague explanation but Ash was relieved when the other finally backed off a few steps. Then, those fiery eyes finally wavered and Ash was a little startled to see unshed tears pooling.

   "He tried to find you, even when he was wheeled far, far away from that departure gate," Sing told Ash, his voice cracking a little, "Look, you fucker. I was pissed - beyond pissed, even. He loved you - probably, still loves you! _Ei-_." 

   "Don't!"Ash could not help but roared at Sing. He gritted his teeth and looked away from the other's dumbfounded expression despite knowing it was all useless. "Please don't say _his_ name. _He_ doesn't need to dragged into this. But if I ever heard _his_ name again, I might not be able to stop myself this time."

   There was a few minutes of silence and that was all it took for Ash to realised what he just said. He could laugh at this; he had basically told Sing that _he_ was more than a friend to Ash. More than a shoulder he could cry on. More than a mere guardian angel looking over him, soft hands and smiles gracing him and healing every hurt. And _he_ was better off without Ash. When he was sure that his blond locks would obstruct his eyes, Ash stole a look. With his lips pursed, unshed tears in his eyes, and worried, crinkled, eyebrows, Sing could have a myriad of emotions within him. But his shoulders were relaxed and he kept on flexing his fingers by his side. Ash wanted to smile; when did this spitting fireball became so composed?

   "Tsk," Sing finally broke the silence, "it's not like this will matter now. He's in Japan." And with a pointed look, he added, "Safe. Alone."

   Ash straightened up but he did not meet Sing's gaze again. "It's better this way," he concluded, final, "and you'll understand when you fall in love."

   Interestingly, this what made the other finally look away from Ash. Sing's expression turned indescribable and Ash surprisingly found himself unable to determine it as well. You grew up a lot more that I imagined, Ash thought.

   "How are the others?" Ash decided to end the silence himself.

   Scratching the back of his head, Sing peered at Ash. "Good," he replied, "well, as good as you can get in a gang. I've been meeting with Alex and Cain once in a while in Chang Dai. Alex seems to have made a deal with NYPD by rounding up runaway kids and turning them in. In turn, NYPD seems to leave them alone. And Cain was just expanding his territories in different parts of New York."

   Sitting back on the bench, Ash commented, "That's good. They're doing good."

   "You didn't lead a bunch of hoodlums, Ash," Sing added, looking away and turned to scratching his nose, "I barely needed to keep things in check because of your old gang."

   Ash hummed as he leaned forward, resting his arms onto his knees. "That's good, they don't need me."

   "No, they don't," Sing affirmed. He then turned to leave and Ash finally looked up at the retreating back. But then, Sing stopped to give him one look of finality. "Look, I don't think I am going to care what are your affiliations at the moment - and I definitely need to stop caring at how you want to live your life. So, I am just going to say this for my own sake, let's try not to bump into each other anymore in the future. Okay?"

   Ash gave a wry smile before replying, "That's fine by me."

   At last, Sing gave him a hesitant nod before fully turning his back from Ash and walked away into the night. Ash let out a shuddering breath but he knew it was not from the cold wind that went through his body. He leaned back and watched the starless sky, his eyebrows crinkling at the thought of someone up there laughing at him right now. However, Ash shrugged it off in this rare, quiet night that befell New York. Even though the ringing in his ears were still as relentless as ever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> OH. MY. GOODNESS!
> 
> I have actually reached 10k of words in this chapter alone! And it's probably going to get longer as I will start adding more Acts in my later chapters and writing action scenes (pray for me, this might get hopeless!).
> 
> Didn't think I would add more Original Characters but the idea of Ash being with fellow intellectuals is quite the temptation for me. Well, I tried to make them seem intellectual (and I definitely know that I am bullshitting the computer terminology in this chapter). So, with no further ado,
> 
> WARNING: SHITTY TECHNOLOGY AND COMPUTER TERMINOLOGY USES.
> 
> The next chapter might take a little longer but hopefully, I'll get there eventually!


	3. "No star is lost at all"

   The phone on his ear had been ringing for a very long time and it was only a matter of seconds before Ash's patience would snap. He was standing by the large floor-length window in his office, surveying the grounds in front of his apartment building that was bathed in both shadows and the golden light of the winter afternoon sun. He watched with a keen eye, roving at each nook and each cranny, as he continued to listen attentively on the continued ringing in his ear.

   Ash had been antsy lately, for the lack of a better term. The familiar anxiety was prickling at the base of his spine and there were many times where Ash found himself looking back way too many times. At first, he thought he was only being paranoid; there was no reason for him to be followed. That was his thought at first but then the weight of the USB drive in his jean pocket and the messages on his phone told him otherwise. Two years of the stagnant quiet seemed to have ended and Ash had started to survey the streets in New York as if it was a battle ground.

   "Well, this is a surprise," Donato's voice finally greeted him.

   Ash was quick to voice his annoyance at the other man. "And this is probably the only time I'll call," he snapped, never once leaving his eyes on the streets below, "If I had only known you are taking this long to answer, I should just barge into your office."

   "And terrorise my secretary? I don't think I'll allow that," Donato replied with a poorly veiled amusement in his voice.

   "Your secretary is a trained strategist and former commander in the Iraq war," Ash contested lightly, "I think she can handle me as much as I can handle her."

   Donato chuckled at the other end and Ash's irk had risen a couple of notches more. "Ah, I see that you have done your research." But this was short-lived as Ash noticed the serious turn in his keeper's voice veiled in the continued light tone, "And I see that you've noticed it already."

   Ash took a moment as he watched a mother reprimand her daughter by a tree on the street below, a group of girls giggling at pictures of celebrities on their phones, a man smoking in front of the office building next to Golzine's, and a couple making out in the dark shadows of an alleyway. All was normal and, yet, Ash could not feel at peace - he could not afford to feel at peace. It was not as intense as it was when Blanca was tailing him but it was definitely something he could not ignore like a couple of goons following him. His intuition never failed him.

   "I am not calling you because I'm being followed," Ash retorted. He finally removed himself from his window, making sure to shut the curtains close. As he sat back down by his desk, he continued, "I'm calling you for information. I can just hack your system but I reckon that it would be much easier to hear it from you instead."

   "Oh? Is this right?" Donato teased, "You're calling for help?"

   Ash's eyebrow twitched at Donato's words but kept himself calm. "Back when I am with that Englishman and Saadhika's team, I heard that you know about the Japanese who created this algorithm."

   There was a pause on the other side before Ash finally heard Donato responded, "I can only tell you what I can from the files I have of her."

   Ash smirked. Donato was being dismissive, acting as if nonchalant but Ash picked up on the soft but clipped tone in the other's voice. Thus, he pressed further, "I don't know if the Englishman had intentionally let this out or not but it seemed that you know this person on a more personal level than what your files can say to me. And I am interested in that." Ash took a pause as he observed the sphere of formulas on his computer screen. "It might be because I haven't got the first parts of the algorithm yet. However, I can already see some very specific questions and routes in this thing. To be able to understand, I will need to know who exactly she is. You, of all people, should know that this conversation is going to happen sooner or later. Don't you?"

   There was a pause on the other side before Ash finally heard a sigh and shuffling. He imagined the man walking around in his office, probably shutting all windows and disabling the surveillance in his own office to lessen the chance of anyone snooping in. Ash then imagined that the man would tell his secretary that he was busy and not to be disturbed - if the secretary had not caught that herself already. For a person who could be dismissive and evasive, Ash found out that his keeper could be read easily and the other hadn't realised how much of an open book he could be. The thought both brought Ash excitement and trepidation - excitement as there would be a possibility to gain an upper hand against Donato; trepidation as Ash continued to be wary on what he would find out. The world is all about give and take, Ash had told himself again and again, and as far I am concerned the world forcibly takes more than what it is willing to give.  

   "She was a friend of mine," Donato told Ash, "I met her in as an exchange student for a semester in Kyoto University but really only became friends when I traveled back to Japan for business. I knew that she lived in Nagasaki before moving to Kyoto, knew that she was a Roman Catholic, and knew that she worked for the Ministry of Defense in Japan right after graduating. She was not that fond of wagyu but really like pungent foods like dried mackerel."

   "So you are on intimate terms?" Ash asked.

   Donato laughed lightly, "Just as intimate as everyone else around her. We all agreed that she was an odd one in a way where she does things that you don't really expect? What was that term they use in Japan nowadays? 'Gap-moe', was it?"

   Ash grimaced a little. "Don't do that again," he said, "I find it highly uncomfortable for men your age using the term 'gap-moe'." He then took a pause to move his attention back on the algorithm on the screen with its maps of formulas, charts, and questions. "I'm just curious on what kind of an analyst would put questions regarding a person's favourite cartoon character in this algorithm? Shouldn't that matter?"

   "There are many things in this world that we all think does not matter, Aslan," Donato said and Ash was a little startled for the other man to use his real name, "and, many times, this kind of thinking leads to men's downfalls. Mizuki, obviously, does not think like that."

   "Mi... zuki?" Ash queried, rolling the unfamiliar name in his tongue.

   "Mizuki Fujimoto was her name," Donato clarified and Ash noted the quiet wistfulness in his voice, "and as far as I am concerned, her real name." Then, his tone became more serious again, "I'll add further surveillance around. The people following you could spell trouble. This was actually a little bit of a surprise for me - I know Burton and Saadhika's team are going to be followed but I did not expect anyone to know that you are associated with me."

   "And I am not," Ash confirmed with a little bit of a hard edge in his tone, "I am only in the game for curiosity's sake. You'll never know, once I have the full picture I might throw it all away and you'll be back on square one."

   "Is that so?" Donato replied, sounding not too concerned at Ash's threat.

   "That is so," Ash said, "and don't bother with your extra surveillance. I know all of New York like the back on my hand. Manhattan is my territory, after all."

   "Even so, you can never be too careful," Donato pressed, "and, if they do get annoying, just ignore them like before."

   The phone the gave a 'click' and a beeping sound that signified the end of the conversation. Ash regarded his phone before settling it down on his desk. Donato was on edge as well and it was not only due to the people that was following Ash, Burton, and Saadhika's team. The younger him would have been impatient, eager to be divulged on all weak points but now, Ash decided to stay low for a while - a trait that had evolved within him to avoid rash decisions. Ash could say that he was growing in a way.

   Ash swiveled around in his computer chair and focused all of his attention to the swirling array of formulas and codes on his screen. It was an excitingly complicated piece of work that Ash had to unravel in the last few months or so. There were also quite a few times where he had to turn to any of Saadhika's team when he had trouble with more complicated codes and formulas. Once Ash had managed to solve all the codes and formulas, he discovered that there was a mixture of an extensive data-mining algorithm and a minimax algorithm and Ash was only seeing a very small part of it. However, what stood out was the light but personal touches on certain formulas whilst most analysts and programmers would only focus on the important, objective matters - name, age, and intention to name a few.

   "This woman is not about to leave any stone untouched," Ash murmured as he pulled the USB drive from his computer. His fingers ran on the carved feathers that he had noticed. Saadhika and Mr Burton had noted his observations from the last time he called them. Ash knew that they probably think that it did not matter that it could be just a design feature of the USB itself until Ash looked a little closer at the uneven ridges and crevasses. There was no doubt that this was carved by someone else and it bugged him to the point where he could just not let go of it.

   Suddenly, he felt a prick at the top of his spine. Ash whipped his head to face the window and barged towards it again. He gripped the curtains and flung them open, making the curtain rings jingle noisily as they bash against the metal pole. Ash roved his eyes towards the skyline, making sure to linger over the windows to spot any odd activity. There was nothing; just an odd office worker or two shuffling around at the end of their shifts. Then, his sharp eyes turned to the streets below. There was nothing, again; there was only a handful of people below - a family with drowsy kids, random students, and a group of Chinese tourists.

   "Yut-Lung?" Ash guessed. It was a pretty good one for as far as he was concerned, Sing was working with Lee Yut-Lung on reviving the control over Chinatown. It was not as far-fetched for Sing to accidentally mention Ash's 'bereavement status'. However, for some reason, Ash was doubtful as well; Sing did not seem to be the kind to be brash anymore.

   Ash jumped as the phone rang again on his desk. He looked at the phone which was still ringing then cast another look at the streets below him before closing the curtains shut again and making his way to the desk. It was Saadhika.

   "Yo," Ash greeted, "What have you got this time?"

   "Burton got another two," Saadhika told Ash, not wasting any time for greetings as usual, "but he wouldn't be able to deliver it to you directly. Do you have earphones with a mic?"

   "Yeah," Ash quickly affirmed as he went into his bedroom to fetch it from one of his drawers. As he untangled the cord and putting one earbud into his ear, he then guessed, "He's not going to meet me at all, is he?"

   "No. He's pretty occupied at the moment so he passed them to someone else," Saadhika replied, "I'll guide you through so keep me in line, and don't even try to cut off the connection."

   Ash chuckled. "You're a pretty demanding one, aren't you?" he commented and, as he thought of Jessica, he added, "You remind me of someone's wife."

   "That wife is obviously not thinking of any common sense by getting married," Saadhika then muttered under her breath.

   "She got a cute kid out of it, though" Ash said, chuckling again, "but the husband? Not exactly a looker, I'm afraid."

   Ash only got a grunt as a reply then heard rapid fingers typing on a keyboard on the other line and some mutterings that he could not decipher. The typing still continued as Saadhika spoke again, "We noticed some unknown movements within the vicinity of the house and we have to quickly move over night so we still yet to set up the second layer of the security in this second location. This is why Burton is occupied at the moment, he's trying to lure them away from us for the moment." More rapid typing came. "I am guessing some MI6 agents got involved but I don't know the details; they are a secretive bunch. We have to keep moving so whoever is following us won't get a chance to even spot what we're doing. That's why I just can't give you a location and time." There was a pause before she started again, "Are you ready? Right. Let's do this."

   Ash rolled his eyes as he made his way outside of the apartment. Immediately, he was instructed to move into the alleyway beside what was Golzine's building and another office building beside it.

   "Just keep on going through the alleyways between the buildings right in front of you," Saadhika instructed in his ear, "when you reached the third alleyway, you should be on 64th Street. Go to Lexington Avenue when you get there."

   Ash then felt the familiar prick on the nape of his neck as he followed the instructions. When he focused more, he heard some faint but hurried footsteps behind him. It was obvious whoever was following him was trying to be as quiet as possible but the secluded and walled alleyways amplified the steps from the very beginning. They echoed in Ash's ears as if mocking him. They burned and it made him grit his teeth. There was no one around; Ash's eyes became feral. His hand then trailed over to reach his revolver, reaching for the trigger.

   "Drop the hand," Saadhika ordered in a tone so sharp that Ash instinctively let his hand fall to his side again, "If we catch him, we need him for the interrogation. The guy is Caucasian, quite tall, and probably in his late thirties. Judging from the cut, the guy is wearing Armani. Not your usual street thug, then."

   "We're not going to lose him if we keep on being obvious," Ash retorted. He then asked, "How are you tracking me, anyway?"

   "Look up," Saadhika said. When Ash did glance upwards, he saw the CCTV cameras. "It is a relief that you live in one of the most expensive parts of Manhattan."

   "You hacked the systems of every single building that I just went by," Ash stated blankly.

   "I played them the videos from yesterday's CCTV," Saadhika explained, "Let's be honest, most security officers will be eating their bagels and drinking their coffees at this hour rather than stare at their screens."

   Ash hummed in agreement as he turned to the last alleyway before 64th Street. In a few moments, he finally reached the busy Park Avenue Road with all its cars and tourists at all sides. He then matched his pace with the people around him. Looking at one of the shop windows, he saw the reflection of the man following him doing the same. Ash quickly regarded the man - Caucasian, tall, and in his mid to late thirties just as Saadhika mentioned. However, there was no swagger in the man's step that were noticeable with Golzine's dogs nor there was any urgency on how he walked. The man looked like any other business man, looking around with none of his eyes trained on him. Not the usual mafia dog, huh, Ash thought to his head.

   Ash's intuition then made him turn to his other side. He frowned as he muttered into his mic, "There's another one."

   "An possibly a few more," Saadhika then added, "You know the drill. Keep in the large crowds. Go inside the Russell Sage Foundation building on your right and go at the back exit of the building. Straight ahead should be the back of The Halston House and there are men positioned there to intercept at least the two men following you. If you notice more, keep me updated. That damn Englishman got lost and we are trying to locate him at the same time."

   "Got it," Ash affirmed as he placed his hands inside the pockets of his jacket. He finally reached the glass building of the Russell Sage Foundation which was next to the old bricks and stained glass of the Central Presbyterian Church. When another large crowd was coming towards him, Ash squeezed in between before quickening his pace towards the entrance of the building.

   "When you felt it, make sure you take them," Saadhika told him in his ear.

   Soon enough, a person then bumped into him a few steps from the entrance and Ash felt a clenched hand by his side. He swiftly reached out and took the two micro SD cards that was handed over into his palm. Ash then continued to the door at the nearest corridor of the room then left onto another hallway. He then heard a slight scuffle and when Ash took a glance at his back, he saw the guy in the Armani suit being wrestled by two security guards. What seems like security guards anyway, Ash thought in his head as he entered the next fire exit door that lead to the back of the building.

   "The first guy has been apprehended," Ash whispered into his mic, "but I can't see the second one."

   There was some shuffling at the other side of the line. After a few minutes, Saadhika finally replied, "I'm taking a look at the security cameras around the building." There was more typing. "I took a shot of him earlier. The second guy is of an East Asian descent, around five foot and eight inches, and wearing a suit that I am not familiar with. This one is more shifty than the first one." There was another pause before she continued. "I can see him going back on Park Avenue. We'll keep an eye on him. For the meantime, jump the fence and go inside The Halston House."

   Once Ash made sure that no one was around, he jumped the fence and made his way into The Halston House. Ash then moved to open the door to the sunken living room of the property and bombarded by its bright white walls, light wooden panels of the floor, and the harsh lines of stairs and the balcony above. What an ugly building for a 24 million dollar property, Ash could not help but to think. He then briefly wondered if this was the property that he bought with Golzine's money. He also wondered what he would think. You will definitely blow your top, Ash concluded as he made his way towards the entry hall of the house.

   "I'm out into the 63rd Street," Ash confirmed into his mic as he exited the building.

   "Good," Saadhika replied, "I'm planning a route to back to your apartment. Cross the street. There should be another entrance into the restaurant in front of you. The one that will lead to the staff area and kitchens. Go in there and there should be an exit to a little alleyway towards 62nd Street. Be careful, though, there are no surveillance cameras that I can hack to keep an eye on you."

   Ash entered the entrance and his unoccupied ear was immediately blasted by the sound of clanging pans and loud swearing from the staff kitchens. Wincing, he then moved into a darker corridor and into another exit. Ash stuck to the shadows as he deftly moved across the building, hiding behind doors and furniture whenever possible. The restaurant was busy, with its waiters at the diners' beck and call, and it did Ash a favour as the staff hardly noticed him. After going through a few more corridors, he was back outside and at the back of the restaurant. Ash saw the little alleyway ahead that would lead him to the other street.

   "Ash, don't! It's a trap!" a voice called out.

   Before Ash knew it, his left upper arm was grabbed. Ash whipped around and slammed his right arm at the intruder's head right into a wall. It was the East Asian - Chinese, now that Ash had a good look - that had been following him - who broke out of his reverie and gave Ash a right hook into his face. "Ash, what's going on?" Saadhika whispered urgently into his ear but before he could answer, Ash stumbled over but managed to land a kick at the the man's shins, making the other cry out in pain. But he was pinned down again by two more people - both seemed to be of East Asian descents, Ash noticed yet again - that came out of nowhere. His phone and earphones got knocked out of the way. Ash managed to finally look up to his enemies but his eyes widened in alarm as he was confronted by the sight of a syringe hanging over his head.

   THUNK!

   A stray lead pipe flew into the guy's arm and knocked the syringe out of his hand; the loud clanging sound of it falling was muffled by a piercing scream of pain. Ash took action and wrestled to catch the syringe. Gritting his teeth, Ash lunged at the other man who was still pinning him, rolled him over, and pierced the syringe into the other's neck. Ash felt a surge of feral satisfaction as the man cried out and went limp in his grip. Then his ears perked as he heard scuffling behind him. Ash whipped around and a hand was lunging for his face. It was unsuccessful as Ash saw Mr Burton gave the man a hook into his stomach and a hit across the nape of his neck. The man was concussed within moments. Ash was startled as the Englishman swiftly moved to the last conscious man standing. Mr Burton gave a kick across the man's middle and when the man stumbled, Ash saw him grab the head and smashed it onto his knee. The man fell onto the floor, knocked out but not dead.

   Both Ash and Mr Burton allowed themselves a few breaths before they regarded each other with a smile and a nod. "Thought I should let you know," Mr Burton started as he took a deep breath in exhaustion, placing his hands on his hips.

   Ash chuckled as he picked up his discarded phone. "A little bit too late of that," he stated lightly as he inspected his phone. Then, lifting the phone against his ear, he reported to Saadhika, "Hey, I managed to find the wayward Englishman."

   Ash grinned as he heard the woman practically growling into his ear, "I see. Tell that Englishman not to suddenly disappear again. I managed to contact the rest of the MI6 agents that he dragged with him. They're going to escort both of you home and take the perpetrators in for questioning."

   There was a tap onto his shoulder. Ash turned to see Mr Burton with a smirk on his face and a hand stretched out. With an inquiring eyebrow raised, Ash slowly handed to phone over to Mr Burton. He was left with more questions as the damn Englishman only gave him a wink.

   "Hello there, Saadhika," Mr Burton drawled in an amused tone of voice into the phone. Ash smirked as Saadhika's loud voice pierced through and made Mr Burton wince. The Englishman held out the phone for a few moments before speaking again, "Yeah, yeah, I learnt my lesson. Look, the New York sky is turning into to this array of beautiful colours and the stars are starting to show up so, could you possibly be more romantic this evening? By the way, did you threaten my colleagues to pick us up?" There were more yelling as Ash watched Mr Burton held out the phone again before replying, "Okay, okay. I'll behave tonight. See you later."

   Ash kept his eyebrow raised as he held out his hand to receive his phone back. "That was flirting?" he inquired but shot Mr Burton a knowing look.

   Mr Burton shot Ash a smirk of his own. "I have no idea what the hell are you talking about," he replied.

   The MI6 came after around twenty minutes of waiting, looking very much harassed if Ash would judge from the hair out of place and their disheveled suits. They were also giving Mr Burton quite dirty looks but managed to stay polite albeit reserved towards Ash. Both he and Mr Burton were guided into two separate cars with the loudspeakers on as one of Saadhika's team giving out directions - Joshua, Ash guessed after recalling the low timbre of the African-American's voice. Despite the familiar voice coming through the speakers, Ash still sat tense on his car seat and kept a reserved but alert eyes on the road with his arms crossed by his chest. When saw the Central Park passing by and when the car turned on the route to his apartment that he was familiar with, Ash relaxed a little on his seat.

   "Laters!" Ash bid the MI6 good-bye with a smirk as he swung himself out of the car and into his street. The car took off when Ash entered the lobby of the building and quickly traversed into the lift with the very intention of getting back to the algorithm. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out, looked at the message, and grew cold at the unknown number - even though he had a pretty good idea who this was.

   'I want you to come and meet me at Le Bernardin at around seven thirty next Friday,' the text read, 'just to welcome you back to the mortal world, Ash Lynx.'

 

   If he was being completely honest, Ash would have liked to drown himself in the murky waters of East River than to meet Lee Yut-Lung. Of course, it has to be Yut-Lung, Ash mused in his head as he sat on one of the benches in Ruppert Park, tapping his foot in irritation as he counted down the minutes where he had to meet the other man. "As far as I am concerned, you can go to hell," was what he answered from the minute he received that text message from Yut-Lung. And he had the intention to stand by his word. It was until a day later he had learned both Kong and Bones got arrested in the local news for trafficking in a new type of methamphetamine in which Ash knew personally that they would never ever dapple in. Ash knew that both were scarred from the drug - or rather from the abusive parents that often snorted and injected the drug. Thankfully, they were released on bail right after Ash came back to Yut-Lung.

   "You're a persistent little shit, aren't you?" Ash had accused Yut-Lung on the phone before lowering the pitch in his voice in a threatening growl, "If you harm anymore of my friends, I'll tear your guts out and strangle you with them for real."

   Yut-Lung had the gall to laugh into his ear. "You're charming as usual, aren't you?" he teased at Ash, "I only wanted a dinner date with you - I'll even pay for it." Ash's blood boiled when the Chinese laughed even more as he continued, "You're so rude. I thought that useless Japanese has softened you up from a fearsome wildcat to a mere tabby."

   Ash saw red. It took a lot for him to take a moment to compose himself, listen to himself taking deep breaths. It was still silent at the other line but he could see Yut-Lung's smug smirk on those pale lips, the knowing gleam in those dark eyes, and the satisfaction written in that pretty face at the thought of shaking Ash to his core. Taking a final breath, Ash let out a feral smirk. So, you want to keep playing this game, huh? Ash had thought in his head as he confirmed his attendance to the fancy French restaurant.

   Ash looked at the time on his watch. It read seven o'clock and twenty-five minutes. He was never going to make to Le Bernardin in five minutes but the look of seething irritation in that Chinese's pretty face was a victory that Ash was never going to give up. With a groan, he hurled himself off the bench to walk to his bike that was parked nearby. When he reached his bike, Ash took a one last breath of resolve before starting, revving it up, and taking off towards the 2nd Avenue. The tour buses, the crowd, and the New York traffic in general slowed him down even more but for Ash, that was exactly just fine. Let Yut-Lung steep even more, Ash thought as he was stopped yet again by a red traffic light.

   It was well after seven thirty when Ash finally arrived at Le Bernardin. Ash parked his bike at the front, smirking at the disapproval of the concierge who stood by the revolving door of the restaurant. Ash gave him a small but mocking salute and waltzed into the building, leaving the concierge puttering and furiously flicking through his book. It was fairly dark inside the restaurant with the lit up ceiling giving the place a warm ambiance that more that often juxtaposed the cool and collected faces of its diners. Ash scanned the room to spot Yut-Lung with no such luck. Or maybe it was luck, after all; Ash would not have to deal with him as of tonight anyway - until he received a message.

   'Don't think that you can escape just yet,' the text said, 'Come at the back of the restaurant where the leather seats are. I've reserved a private space for us. I'll be waiting. I've even ordered you a martini, James Bond."

   Forcing a breath through his teeth, Ash was a little irked that Yut-Lung caught onto his circumstances this quick. Or, maybe, he had known from the start? Ash mused in his head as he sauntered to the back of the restaurant with as much bravado as he could muster. It annoyed the patrons around him especially as Ash swaggered in his ripped jeans, black tank top, and the sore-eye that was his red jacket. Yet the staff disregarded him despite the complaints of the diners. It seemed that Yut-Lung had warned them about him earlier. Shame, Ash thought, it means that I can't get kicked out at least.

   Yut-Lung already had his sharp eyes trained on Ash when the latter finally moved into the screened table. Ash regarded the other with a blank stare to Yut-Lung's more mocking one, the Chinese's delicate face rested upon his intertwined fingers with a quirk in his face. He had been expecting Ash all along, even if he would wait in the restaurant for days; Yut-Lung was a person who had the chess pieces arranged already before his competition even knew they were in a battle. As he sat down opposite the other with a slouch, Ash noted that Yut-Lung was still manipulative but without the child-like desperation he held before. The Chinese was more sure of himself and held his haughty chin up higher than before.

   "Here's your martini," Yut-Lung drawled as he pushed the cocktail towards Ash, "Apologies if it became lukewarm. You took forever to get here."

   Ash scoffed and he pushed the glass aside. "Then, I'm afraid I must waste your generosity," he said, "But don't worry, I am not going to waste any time here. How the hell did you know?"

   Yut-Lung raised his eyebrow. "You're not accusing Sing," he stated it more than questioned it.

   "Sing does not seem to be the type to just blurt it out to you," Ash explained, "he might be helping you rebuild Chinatown but I feel I am more of his business than yours to deal." With a smirk, he continued, "Pitiful, isn't it? Having someone who used to be your underdog take the rails while you snivel and curse and steep in the curse of your name. I never understood why he gave them back to you but that's fine. I'll like to see you fall down again."

   Ash was satisfied when the other's dark eyes turned sharp like shards of ice; how silly, Ash had steeled himself to be stone cold a long time ago. But his satisfaction did not last when Yut-Lung's lips turned upwards into a smirk.

   "It is just like you to hold onto your grudges, aren't you?" Yut-Lung retorted and Ash almost gagged when he registered the cooing undertones in the other's voice, "Tell me, Ash Lynx, aren't you the same? Aren't you holding on to your past as well, trying to take in the justice that you were never given? I think you have forgotten that I am the one who passed that information to that man months ago. Especially when they have the names of Golzine's associates and higher-ups, I already know that it is going to be for you. Although, I am quite surprised that you took the bait. It's almost you have been lulled into finally believing that a warm hand had reached out to you. I tell you now, Ash Lynx, I am quite the same." Then, Yut-Lung leaned over the table and his eyes glinted more. "I pity you, as well."

   It was as if the clock stopped ticking and the hustle and bustle of the restaurant was muted to a point where they were nothing but white noise that still rang loud into Ash's ears. But Ash never let that bothered him as he held Yut-Lung's sharpened gaze with a the same iciness in his own jade green eyes. So, Yut-Lung knew it long ago, and given the Chinese's impeccable track record of gathering accurate information, Ash would not be surprised if the other said that he knew well before Donato. Ash decided he would not worry about the details. Gripping the SD cards and the USB drive inside his jeans pocket, Ash decided that he would only worry about the other laying his hand on the algorithm. He would definitely want to, Ash though in his head as he continued his icy gaze on Yut-Lung, but I won't let him - especially not him.

   "I guess we are cut from the same cloth but you know that already, don't you?" Ash told Yut-Lung.

   Yut-Lung took a sip of his own alcohol as he regarded Ash. "I guess that's right," he said as he put down his red wine. Ash watched as the gleam in his eyes never faded as the other looked back at him. Yut-Lung continued, "That's why this makes it so much sweeter."

   Before he could ask what the other meant, Yut-Lung pulled out three sizable files on the table and pushed them at Ash's direction. Ash regarded them with a glance before raising an eyebrow at the other's direction.

   "The top one is your file," Yut-Lung started as he leaned over the table again, "It's all your paperwork regarding the forced adoption and your inheritance to the Corsican Mafia. From what I can find, it's all still valid."

   Ash froze as he heard those words. "Valid?!" he said, almost in a gasp.

   "Unione Corse did not even get a chance to invalidate Golzine's accounts and papers before everything went into the fire," Yut-Lung explained, "It seems like its directors and other staff are more concerned moving abroad to be out of the picture as their names are attached to the scandal you have caused two years ago. Under a new name and an interim head, Unione Corse finally tried to rebuild itself under the radar of the new government and media. But, for some reason, Golzine's files were untouched and, as far as the legal side of things, you are still named the rightful heir of the Corsican Mafia." Yut-Lung then smirked as he leaned over the table again. "I think it was right just to let you know."

   Ash's eyes widened further as he looked down at the file with trepidation and the familiar vile taste behind his tongue. He remembered that day; it was a day where he thought he could die from hearing it from Golzine's lips alone. He remembered not having any strength, the most weakened he ever felt. Then he remembered Foxx's grip and remembered every threat forced into his soul. And remembered the feeling of a cage finally enclosing around him - a cold, desolate cage that would never include the heavenly respite of sweet smiles, lingering warmth on his cheeks, and soft hair that just looked right next to his blond one. It all came crashing down on Ash and when he looked back at Yut-Lung's impassive face, he was overflowed with a feeling of wanting to tear the other's eyes out; to slice him across his lips; to finally aim his revolver at the pale skin of his pretty forehead and shoot him over and over again because once was never going to be enough-

   A melody sliced in the space, jumping Ash's out of his reverie. He was suddenly aware of his surroundings and looked around. They were in Le Bernardin with its warm lightning that juxtaposed the modern and cold interior. Ash's ears stopped their ringing and the casual conversations from the restaurants' patrons and waiters took over. Yut-Lung's face was still impassive but there was an emotion behind his eyes that Ash could not decipher. The hand, that Ash did not even knew had gripped his revolver tight, loosened and the murderous want faded away as he continued his gaze on Yut-Lung - and that emotion that he did think that the other was capable of.

   "I would answer that if I were you," Yut-Lung finally said as he finally looked away from Ash and downed his red wine in one go before refilling it again, "It might important so I won't be offended - I'm too tired from work to worry about the small things."

   Ash swallowed and he fished the still ringing phone out of his pocket. It was his keeper and Ash briefly wondered what could the old man possibly want but he shook his head in the end. Donato has the worst timings, Ash mused lightly as he accepted the call and held the phone against his ear.

   "What do you want?" Ash accused Donato and kept his trained eye on Yut-Lung. He was annoyed that the Chinese was not even letting him privacy and had shamelessly put on a expectant look as Ash talked onto his phone, "I'm busy with something."

   Ash knew that his keeper had sensed the tension. And yet, Donato still chuckled, "You sounded like a teenage son that was just in the middle of doing something particularly bad."

   "Oh, I think I am about to," Ash confessed and his annoyance rose a little when he saw Yut-Lung smirk.

   "You're in a public place," Donato reminded him, "so refrain yourself from doing anything stupid. I know it's hard when he's right in front of you-"

   "Did you make him meet me?" Ash accused again.

   Donato replied with a sigh, "No. Your situation right now is all of his doing. As far as I am concerned, he probably know you're alive when we first met. He's a sharp lad just like you."

   "Don't lump me with him," Ash warned as he observed Yut-Lung sip his red wine.

   "Either way," Donato cut off, "don't let him get to you. I predicted that he would have wanted to meet with you at some point but underestimated how quick he would make it happen. You know him personally, so I don't think I need to warn you that he will put you in quite a spot."

   Ash remembered earlier and forced a deep breath through his nose. When Ash was convinced that he had his resolve back and with his sharp jade eyes onto Yut-Lung, he replied, "You don't need to remind me of that at all." Then, the phone call ended.

   "Donato Scordato," Yut-Lung started as Ash placed his phone back into his pocket, "He's quite an interesting one. Out of all the information that I have covered, he's one of the more difficult ones."

   Ash gave Yut-Lung a look as he shifted his file from the pile to discover Donato's name on one of them. "I thought that you two are already acquainted," he drawled, "In fact, might be even friends."

   "Oh, Ash," Yut-Lung sighed and shook his head, "Two years doesn't change a man that easily. I don't make friends easily - Sing might say otherwise but I don't think he knew any better. I would say my relationship with your keeper is based on mutual benefit. I help him gather as much information as I can and he can help me strategise and open up trade routes for my businesses. But, no, we are not even acquaintances - I only met him once and we've known each other for a year now."

   Ash smirked. "That's why you have risen the Lee family from its ashes a lot faster than anticipated," he stated, picking up Donato's file then started playing with the opening, "Sing could only help you so much, after all - he's a smart one but doesn't really have that much influence. You needed to manipulate bigger players as usual."

   "The difference now is how to manipulate the right ones," Yut-Lung added, raising one eyebrow as if he was letting Ash in a conspiracy, "Of course, that is not saying that Donato Scordato is easy to manipulate at all - you have to pull more than a couple of strings to do that." Then he gave Ash a meaningful look as he continued, "I think you and I both know how much we can hold power to those who underestimate us. We are young and pretty so we were thought of having void of brains - which I must confess, make me want to grab their tongues and have them choking on them. But it did the trick and we defeated them. And that what set Golzine's downfall." He took a sip of his red wine. "But with Donato Scordato - none of that applies, no matter how we bat our eyelashes at him." Yut-Lung then let out a snicker. "A lover left all alone and sworn to celibacy - that's what I made of him. It would be a damn shame if I did not uncover something like that about him."

   "So no juicy bits, huh?" Ash trailed and gave an inquiring gesture toward the file, "So, what is in there?"

   "Something that will interest you very much," Yut-Lung said lightly - evasively, Ash had noted, "and I am very surprised that you have not found this out yourself." He let out a small laugh. "How about you open it? I want to see your reaction."

   Ash slowly slid the file to join his own file. "How about no," he replied, grimacing, "If you don't mind, I would like to open these in my own time - and nowhere near you."

   "Suit yourself," Yut-Lung said but Ash watched in slight trepidation when the other wriggled his shoulders in a suggestive manner and pointed at the last file. Ash noted that it was unnamed. "Although...," the Chinese trailed in a way that made Ash set his teeth on edge, "I would love it if you could open this one now. Preferably, at this moment - I will definitely be interest on how you react to it."

   "Whose file is this?" Ash asked as he narrowed his eyes even more. He already knew that he would not like the answer. But when he finally heard Yut-Lung's answer, it was as if he had went under - and he could not breathe.

   "It is Okumura Eiji's."

   Eiji. _Eiji_. God, it had been forever since Ash heard that name and it sang to him like a lullaby - like a gentle sea kissing the white sand; like the chiming of bells that answers prayers; like cherry blossoms falling gently against the blue sky. It spoke of fantasies that touched his fingertips and dreams that softly kissed him every night under the stars. And Ash more than remembered the soft conversations just before they went to sleep, the hot dogs that were drenched in mustard, and the quite but comfortable company inside the main reading room of the New York Public Library. They caressed Ash like a phantom limb, throbbing in his aching heart. Then, they would all came crashing down on Ash like a tsunami that would destroy the mirage of his utopia - and bring him back to reality.

   Ash surged and his hand went for Yut-Lung's neck. He was stopped as the Chinese's bodyguards pulled back his arm and pinned it onto his back. Hands pushed him down onto his seat and he wanted to lash out; to soil his hands yet again and aim his gun at everyone that was standing in his way. Even if there were a million of eyes judging him in this very room.

   "You have no right," Ash growled, baring his teeth at Yut-Lung, "You have no right at all!"

   Yut-Lung smirked and Ash was more than determined to wipe it away. "I don't gather information based on morality," Yut-Lung commented, "only if it either benefit me or if it interests me. And his file definitely does - no matter how that useless Japanese irritates me to the core."

   "You have no right to even say his name!" Ash near-roared at Yut-Lung, "How dare you?! To just invade his privacy - the one you wanted dead two years ago!"

   "Let's just say, I am looking out for your best interests," Yut-Lung said in a sarcastic tone.

   "You're looking for trouble," Ash retorted, anger rumbling from his chest.

   "But at least, I have been honest this time," Yut-Lung contested, "and it takes a long while for me to be this honest. That Japanese is not as pure as I thought - no one can ever be that innocent."

   "You're lying," Ash insisted, "you're lying because you know this would send me to hell."

   "And hell is normally a reality," Yut-Lung pressed, "Tell me, Ash. Do you really know him that well? You have opened your heart and soul to Okumura Eiji and yet you hardly knew anything about him. Mind you, there was never really a time for a proper heart to heart two years ago."

   "Is this your jealousy speaking again, Yut-Lung? How cute," Ash counter-attacked, leaning back onto his seat when Yut-Lung's bodyguards released him. However, his eyes were still as menacing as ever, "Are you still green with envy that no one would ever love you as much as he loved me? Or was it you're jealous on how much Eiji was loved in return?"

   Yut-Lung was impassive. "I am not sixteen years old anymore," he told Ash.

   "No?" Ash sarcastically retorted, "How surprising - you act the spoiled child as you always do."

   "And it's the same for you," Yut-Lung rebutted as his eyes started to glow as menacing as Ash's, "Have I really destroyed your little fantasy? You don't really think he is that pure, do you?"

   Ash gritted his teeth but didn't press any further. He had suddenly became tired, drawn out from all of his anger that was still festering in his psyche. He glanced at the three folders and they burned in his vision. With a sneer towards Yut-Lung, he snatched all of them in one swipe of his hand and stood up. He was done and Ash could not take a minute more in the snake's presence. I am not Eve who would willingly hear you sing, Ash added in his mind as he turned his back.

   However, the ever irritating voice called back and it made Ash took a pause in his steps. "I only have one copy of each file," Yut-Lung said, "I don't like clutter."

   "Good," Ash replied, "I'll burn these for you."

   "I don't think you will," Yut-Lung disagreed and it was the last one Ash heard from the other as he marched back towards the entrance and into the pouring rain.

   Ash went straight towards his back, carelessly stuffing the files inside of his jacket before putting on his helmet. He wasted no time to revved his motorbike up and gunning down the ever busy roads of New York, swerving left and right between cars. The files weighed heavily inside his jacket and Ash desperately tried to get them out of his mind. Yut-Lung have no right to this kind of information, Ash thought, he's lying - he must have some copies of these files somewhere. The Chinese wanted leverage, Ash concluded; Yut-Lung must have known about the algorithm and he wanted to grasp that power. Ash concluded that the files in his person were merely an afterthought - because Yut-Lung knew how they would affect him. In the Chinese's mind, Ash was still a competition - the enemy that he could destroy; a wildcat that needed to be tamed. But Ash was over that; he would dump the files and let them not disturb him.

    Not even when Eiji's file weighed the heaviest of them all.

    Ash's vision wavered and he was pushed to take deep breaths. He was still suffocating despite breathing the same stale air over and over again in his helmet. So, he pushed his bike to the fastest that he could go and ignored the angry honks of the cars around him. Ash could not care less; he was too busy with the swirling thoughts in his head. Of all the people who would give him the name of his whole life, it had to be Yut-Lung. Now that Ash thought about it, of course, it had to be Yut-Lung - the person who had always pushed and pressed and cornered him, making Ash lash out in ways that he could not control himself. So, it the Chinese had his heart dug out from his frail chest and tossed in the sewers, Yut-Lung would only have himself to blame.

    Ash reached Central Park and decided not to go straight home despite the continued downpour. He needed space and being confined in his apartment would only fester the lingering hatred that continued to sear into the marrow of his bones. It would go into his nerves and Ash wanted to vomit. Being able to breath would cool it down; being drenched in the filthy New York rain would still be something than nothing. Thus when he reached one of the entrances into Central Park, Ash parked his bike by the side. He pulled his helmet off, tossing it to the side, and took a deep breath when the first few drops drenched his hair. He pulled out the files from his jacket, not caring when the rain soaked through the envelope. His hand clenched and when he spotted a bin nearby, Ash dumped them inside.

    "Good riddance," Ash muttered as he tucked his hands into his jacket, breathing heavily.

    After standing on the sidewalk for a good few more minutes, staring blankly at the crumpled files inside the bin, Ash decided that he had enough of the blaring sirens and of the people around him. Thus, he entered Central Park which was bathed in pitch darkness except for the small and cold glows of its street lights. Ash was disappointed that there were hardly any pitter patter of rain on leaves that would often do the trick of drowning out the honking of cars and the loud conversations of the people in the streets. They still rang into his ears and it made Ash move a little bit quicker in his steps. I have to get out, Ash thought as he marched further into the darkness. But the noises from the streets somehow grew louder and it was as if Yut-Lung's voice was calling him back - from that bin where he dumped the files, from that place where he tried to leave all of that reality behind.

    "STOP!" Ash finally roared. Then, the wind blew. It rustled the bushes. It disturbed the birds. They caw and screech into the night. Then, it was nothing but silence afterwards. Finally, there was a welcome respite - even just for a mere moment.

    When his heart had finally calmed down and when the noises for the streets had been muffled in his ears, Ash straightened his jacket and continued to walk along the Central Drive. It was too late at night and the lack of people in the park both gave Ash pleasure and annoyance - pleasure, because Ash felt at peace without the constant chatter and stomping hooves; annoyance, because Ash was again left in his own thoughts. However, Ash was not overwhelmed anymore and there were no eyes that could judged him; no more of Yut-Lung's voice that would taunt him. Thus, as he walked along the beaten path, Ash decided it was safe to mourn and grieve a little. Eiji had always told him that it was okay - even if it really wasn't at this very moment; there were no arms that would softly held him as he cried. But Ash nevertheless grieved for his loss - for the plane ticket that was never used, and for that letter that he had read over and over again - as he aimlessly walked with no company but the pouring rain and the rustling of the bare trees around him. The lamps still glowed cold with no ounce of warmth in it.

    _"You're not alone. I'm by your side. My soul is always with you."_ Ash desperately wanted to believe that, too.

   Ash continued to walk further the Central Drive, then went onto the East Drive when he spotted the statue of Christopher Columbus. The rain kept pouring down on him, changing its pace on intervals - some times, the drops crashed down upon his head; on other times, they were only mist that would lull anyone to a sense of false security thinking that the downpour had stopped. Not Ash, though. He knew that the rain would still continue throughout the night, would still continue to be relentless on his thoroughly-soaked jacket. Nevertheless, he continued on his way, going past Pilgrim Hill, skimming the edges of The Lake, and taking quick glances at the bronze figures of Hans Christian Anderson by the Conservatory Water, and the characters in Alice in Wonderland a little further ahead. Ash then continued to cross the 86th Street Transverse that cut across the Central Park and strolled along the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. It had gotten a little bit darker and not even the small lights from the park lamps helped Ash to see further into the dark - but this was the Central Park and it was too much of an open space for anyone to start a big fight with him.

   It had been almost an hour when Ash traversed his way past the 97th Street Transverse. The drenched tendrils of his blond hair was stuck onto his face and forehead. He pushed them back and, whilst staring at the starless sky, he took a deep sigh. Most of the noise was gone but something akin to a lingering feedback remained. Ash turned around to glance back, contemplating back to the files he had dumped in that bin. There was nothing but the breeze and the far off noises from the New York streets but the white noise that kept ringing into his ear still managed to persist. Ash shook his head as he moved on and made his way past the baseball fields and the butterfly garden. I need to stop this, Ash insisted, I always do this when the storm faded away and the calm took over again.

   When Ash decided to finally go straight home to continue to work on the two SD cards, he went into the smaller pathways towards the Conservatory Garden. With his hands in his pockets, he headed towards Vanderbilt Gate and passed the Burnett Fountain, catching the back of someone else at the corner of his eyes - someone with a pink flannel shirt and thick dark hair, walking just as aimlessly as he was on the opposite side of the fountain.

   Ash stopped in his tracks - and he might as well have stopped his heart. His eyes were glued to his shoes, muddy and worn out from walking. The water from his blond locks made its way down into his eyes, blurring his vision. And the white noise still kept ringing onto his ears.

   But he did not care about that.

   As if on autopilot, Ash surged and whipped his head again at the opposite side of the Burnett Fountain. There was nothing. No, Ash desperately thought in his head, I am not being delusional. Ash ran along the fountain and tripping himself on a chink between the pavers on the pathway. But his resolve did not waver, even when his knees screamed in pain when it made its harsh contact to the ground. Not even when his hair stuck even more to his face; not even when the rain drops blurred his vision. Because that thick dark hair and pink flannel shirt would forever be clear in his memory. I am not wrong, Ash tried to convince himself, I am not wrong and he's here. Eiji is -!

   In the midst of his clouded mind, Ash felt a hand dropped onto his shoulder. With a growl and feral eyes, Ash swiftly reached for his gun and pointed it between the offender's eyebrows. Because how dare this person-!

   "This will be the reason why we shouldn't meet anymore," Sing's familiar voice entered Ash's clouded periphery.

   All of a sudden, Ash's blurred mind cleared and Sing's ever blazing eyes came to his vision. The boy looked irked rather than angry despite the end of Ash's gun almost touching his skin. "Sing... I apologise," Ash trailed as he slowly let his gun fall down, lost for words.

   "I can see you're doing great," Sing said coolly as the boy also let his hand fall down to his side.

   A little embarrassed, Ash placed his gun back by the waistband of his jeans and covered it with his jacket. "What are you doing so late in Central Park," he evasively asked. He did not focus on Sing though, and his eyes wandered between the trees past the Burnett Fountain. There was nothing but the bare trees and the still waters.

   "As if you can say that for yourself," Sing retorted, "wandering around looking like a lost teenager who ran away from a fight with his parents." Ash glared at Sing at this but the boy just ignored him as he continued, "I saw your bike at the other end of the park and I got curious." Then, Ash's eyes widened as he saw the dreaded files in Sing's hand. "Also, you forgot these."

   "I don't want them," Ash automatically said in a rather petulant manner, "I would be happy if you shred them, actually."

   "Too bad, I am not going to shred them," Sing rebutted as he stretched the files towards Ash even more, "And I don't think you really want to run away from these."

    Ash's eyes narrowed, "Who is running from what, exactly?"

   "You can change your destiny all you want," Sing responded with a serious face, "but you are never going to change the past. You have to face them at some point. Or is it because you can't do it now that Eiji's not here anymore?"

   The jade eyes narrowed further. "One of the files," Ash started in a low voice, "is Eiji's."

   There was a moment of silence between men. However, even if his eyes turned more understanding, Sing did not back down. In fact, he took a step closer and the files were almost pressing into Ash's chest. "I know," Sing whispered, "so do him proud."

   His eyes were locked onto Sing's dark ones, a little astounded. His hand went up and took the files, then they fell onto his side. But his hand never let go of them. "Do him proud...," Ash trailed as he continued to look at Sing's face. There was no need to observe if Sing was mocking him; Ash knew that Sing liked Eiji enough.

   "That's right," Sing said in finality as he moved back to walk into the direction of the Vanderbilt Gate.

   But Ash halted him before he went too far out of his reach. "Sing!" Ash called and when the other acknowledged him with an inquiring eyebrow, he asked, "Eiji... Is he really back in Japan?"

   "As far as I know," Sing answered, "yes, he is."

   Ash did not quite know what he was expecting. But his heart went heavy at Sing's words. His blood became a touch chillier, as if the rain that passed through cloth and skin had latched onto every blood cell in his body. However, Ask knew that he had to move back and face reality at some point. So as he gripped the files tighter and as he steeled his shuddering lips, he whispered back at Sing, "Okay....Okay. I just want to make sure."

   Sing regarded him with an unreadable expression but Ash was certain that pity was the veiled emotion underneath. Thus Ash turned away from the boy and hid his face with his hair. That was not enough.

   "I'll see you later, Sing," Ash whispered again as he walked away from the boy.

   "Bye, Ash," Sing called back but Ash barely registered it, as he moved, subconscious, deeper into the the bare trees and shrubbery of the Conservatory Garden. All of a sudden, he wanted the blaring noise of the New York street back - he could at least numb himself a little that way.

 

   The typing sound of fingers on the keyboard was the only music in the room, echoing back from the dimmed walls of his bedroom. Ash normally do not like to work long hours on his computer in the dark as his eyes get too tired from the bright light of his monitor. However, he was becoming more careful, more inconspicuous than ever before. He made sure to go home at random times - typically, somewhere before four to six at night. Ash would also rarely go out so early in the morning nor stay out so late in the evening. He needed to take advantage of the daylight as much as possible.

   "The people we interrogated last time were from the Lee syndicate," Saadhika told him via an earpiece, "Yut-Lung might have decided to attempt to kidnap you first before inviting you in a neutral state."

   Ash replied as he typed more formulas in his computer, "He was thinking that I would not cooperate - and I wouldn't at that point. But he threatened my old gang so I have to at least meet him in that fancy French restaurant."

   Saadhika scoffed into his ear, "It was an advantage for him that you are so familial with your old gang." Then, she cleared her throat as she continued, "Anyway, I still have no lead regarding that Caucasian. I might have spotted a few random movements around your apartment, Donato's place, and our place - but they might have been due to extraneous variables on our observations. New York is an increasing place after all, we cannot predict that the people around you are going to be the same for the next year or so." Saadhika's voice lowered even more. "Although, my instinct is telling me otherwise. My team and Burton are the same."

   "Same here," Ash said as he pressed 'Enter' on his keyboard and lounged back onto his chair, "I'm trying to be careful."

   "Can't be too careful, though," Saadhika warned him, "We don't know where they are tracking us from."

   Ash let out a non-committal noise as he watched the calibration procedure being undertaken on his computer. "I've developed a protective system in my own computer," Ash said into his earpiece, "We had a near-miss last time so I took matters into my own hands to design a script that ensure immediate counter attacks if ever our systems are to be corrupted. You said your laptops are still acting funny from last time?"

   "Yeah," Saadhika confirmed with an exasperated tone, "So, as well as a new house, we have to have new surveillance, new temporary computers, and a new kitchen that Daniel hated."

   "Oh?" Ash mused.

   Saadhika chuckled, "He doesn't like the modernity of it. He cooked a lot in his grandmother's house so everything are pretty much gas-powered. He mentioned that the she still have a wood-fire oven and would never touch an electric one in her life." Then she sighed, "He misses her."

   "Still, it must be nice to have someone that he can go home to," Ash commented. He tried to be impassive but Saadhika was immediately quiet for the next few minutes. He was found out and Ash could finally conclude that the lady on the other side on the other line was someone that he would have to be more careful with as well.

   But Saadhika did speak again in that soft voice that Ash could recognise. It was that soft voice that betrayed real feelings - a little hitched on the corners but still attempting to be neutral for the most of it.

   "I don't have a home that I could go home to as well," Saadhika confessed, her voice too clear and too neutral. But Ash recognised it anyway.

   However, before Ash attempted to press a little further, Saadhika interrupted him, "Burton told me something interesting regarding those SD cards. Apparently, they have the feather imprints on them as well."

   Ash hummed in contemplation as he fetched the SD cards in question. He rotated one with his fingers until they felt a scratched out surface - two feathers again, located at the left corner. When Ash moved to inspect the other one, the imprints were there as well but on the other side of the SD card.

   "Do you have any theories?" Ash asked.

   "Apart from a quirk of this Japanese cryptanalyst? No, not really," Saadhika confessed and there was a little frustration laced in her voice. "Same thing with these passwords."

   "'Metacarpals' and 'Radius', huh," Ash mused as he put the SD cards aside, "And did you say you have to figure them out by solving two mathematical sequences?"

   "Different ones from the last time," Saadhika confirmed, "and just like last time, we had to work from a binary code then translate them to alphabets. Then work out the passwords from them...." Saadhika then trailed off and Ash had to wait for a few moments before he heard her again. "It's interesting this time around though. There seemed to be no resistance - even the slightest - from these SD cards. The last time, we had quite a few hiccups with the shutting off and restarting of the laptops. But this time, there was almost no resistance at all."

   "And what did you lot find in the end before the sudden move?" Ash questioned.

   "Educational computer programs. One has The Oregon Trail, and the other has one of the ClueFinders series," the other answered, "the Mystery of Mathra one."

   Ash blinked at that. "Really?" he said, unbelieving.

   "I'm not joking," Saadhika pressed even she also let out a disbelieving laugh herself, "You would think that someone was messing with us but, no. When I asked Donato, apparently not. He just asked us to look further into it." Saadhika trailed again as she added, "It was weird. He laughed when we told him at first - like full on belly laugh. It was as if he was remembering an inside joke. We were shocked at first. He seems to be one who can be playful but doesn't show his open feelings., if you get what I mean?"

   "Yeah, I do," Ash affirmed, remembering the conversations he had with his keeper so far, "Mizuki Fujimoto and him go way back so it might have something to with that."

   "Mizuki Fujimoto, huh?" Saadhika mused, "So, he told you her name... He never referred that Japanese cryptanalyst anything else in front of us. He must trust you quite a bit, then."

   Ash did not say anything after that - he would not know how to respond either way. The relationship between his keeper and him was still blurry at best so to say it was built in trust was definitely inaccurate - for Ash anyway. Despite the attention he held as he watched the calibration reached its final stages and making light reports to Saadhika, Ash could not help but to think about the other's comments. So, Donato never told the team about his relationship with the cryptanalyst? Then, if so, Ash concluded that it was likely that Donato never told anyone else either. Only Ash - and it was rather peculiar.

   "It's done," Ash said at last when the calibration ended and no oddities were found, "I'll create a copy so you guys can install it as well on your new computers. I've covered protection to pretty much all hacking and other computer viruses, the old and newly discovered."

   "Cool," Saadhika said, "I'll tell the others. I think we will be your willing guinea pigs - you have impressed them last time."

   Ash smiled. "The same goes for me. I like it when I am surrounded by talented people like you guys."

   Saadhika laughed. "Don't make me gush now; I've been restraining myself lately," she chimed and Ash recognised the teasing tone behind it which made him smile as well. But the laughter trailed off and Saddhika sounded serious again, "Listen - I really do appreciate how you trust us. When I first heard you, we've all been worrying how to approach you. I had been making all sort of plans if you had refused. But you are exceptionally open and I really appreciate that."

   Ash was silent for a while, thinking of soft dark hair and a smile that shone on his dark world. "Someone taught me to trust a little," he eventually said, soft with a little bit of nostalgia.

   "That someone must be very dear to you," Saadhika said back, "I'm glad that you met that someone. I'll see you soon, then."

   With a click on his ear, Saadhika ended the call but Ash remained with the disconnected dial tone for moment before hanging up himself and removing the earpiece. Ash rubbed his temple before moving off from his computer and towards the large window in the room. New York city was still a light show with its numerous street lights, open offices, and bustling shops. However, from inside his apartment, the blaring noises from the streets could at least be muffled to a point where it gave Ash a peace of mind despite the confined area. Ash watched the world go by, something that he would always do when everything was a tad bit overwhelming.

   But intuition pricked his skin yet again and Ash roved his eyes all over the street to spot the intruder - the little alleyways, the corners of each blocks, the people exiting the bodegas nearby. Ash gripped his revolver that was always placed in his waistband, his eyes sharpened in a hunter's mode. He searched the streets over and over again.

   There! Ash thought as his eyes caught a shadowy figure standing at the edge of a narrow alley between two office buildings across the street. Ash snatched his gun and pointed it between his opponent's head who was still concealed by the darkness. His finger rested lightly upon the trigger yet it was ever ready to take action. He slowed his breathing and stood his ground. He was anticipating that the intruder would back off eventually; Ash caught no sign of a weapon on its person.

   But the figure languidly took a step under the dimming light of the nearby street light. A frown made its way onto Ash's face as he caught the smirk upon the figure's face. The finger that was only lightly resting upon the trigger pressed a little bit more. I should have put a silencer, at least, Ash thought but nevertheless remained focused. However, that focus wavered as Ash's frown turned to disbelief as his target moved further into the light. Ash's grip onto his gun shook a little when he looked upon similarly trained eyes - very familiar, trained eyes that should have been shut for eternity.

   "Impossible," Ash muttered under his breath. Yet, the Caucasian seemed to have cheated death and lived again.

   After another mocking look at Ash, the Caucasian placed his hands in his pockets and walked away just as languidly as he came back from the dead, lips pursed as if whistling. The hand holding the gun fell down back onto Ash's side but his shoulders remained as tense as ever. It seemed that the world was not going to let him sleep - at least for tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> 03/08/2019: CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED TO FIX SOME MISTAKES
> 
> Apologies that I have taken long to finish the chapter - I normally aim to post a chapter fortnightly but this one, for some reason, had just taken a long time to finish.
> 
> Ok, I have messed up my research. Basically, I couldn't find the exact location of Ash's 5th Avenue apartment in the manga. So, I have taken matters in my own hands and decided that 1214 Fifth Avenue is the location of Ash and Eiji's apartment. Then, more than halfway into the story, I stumbled on Tumblr that they were actually living in One Columbus Place...
> 
> So, yeah, that's the story if you are wondering why I have involuntary moved the apartment. (Mind you though, both of these places are fucking expensive - $10,000.00 or so a month for a 3-bedroom apartment is LUDICROUS!!! (nearly half of my year's salary!))
> 
> I have to say, I had fun writing the scene between Yut-Lung and Ash. I wished I got this power play between the two of them in the manga and anime - I think this would also cement the power that Yut-Lung could have.
> 
> Also, just noting you that I will be changing the rating to an M. There will be some upsetting scenes planned for this story but I didn't edit them onto the tags as I don't want people to make a judgement out of my story out of those tags. However, I will be giving you warnings when we are approaching them.


	4. "From all the star-sown sky."

**Reader's Discretion Advised:** **This chapter will contain relatively descriptive acts of violence, which will include blood and some gore, and also some heavy references to sexual violence. You have been warned.**

 

* * *

 

   

   Decked in a disguise composed of a suede jacket, sleek corduroys and a light brown wig, Ash observed the building just a crossroad in front of him which was partially obscured by the trees. Truth to be told, it was not a building that liked to be obscure - that IAC building here in Chelsea, Manhattan with its glass structure and asymmetrical shape that screamed its desire to be edgy and modern. It screamed much like many of the buildings in New York City; it was hard to stand out in a city that never slept and that kept on changing.

   However, there was more to that building than a target for Ash's criticism of modern art and architecture. The IAC building was where Newsweek's headquarters were located. That was where Max Glenreed mostly worked and that was where Ash was likely to bump into him. It was an interesting thought, Ash decided and he could not help but to imagine what would the older man's face be like if he could just waltz in front of him without the wig. He will likely choke on whatever he ate for breakfast and bust his liver from all the lunchtime drinking, Ash mused to himself whilst letting a wry smile took over his lips. And, on that final note, Ash had forbid to entertain that thought again.

   "Well, aren't you dashing in your Berluti get up?" An impressed voice called out to Ash.

   Ash gave an amused grin in return as he finally faced both Saadhika and Christina. When they came into a halt in front of him, Ash gave both young ladies a mischievous low whistle. "I digress," he playfully countered, "I think I got outshone by the both of you with your Alexander McQueen, Prada, and, oh my, are those the iconic Louboutin heels? Gee, can you even walk in them?"

   "This is a fashion event for an uprising designer for Gucci," Christina pointed out, "so we have to look the part!"

   "Is that how you manage to convince that old geezer?" Ash asked, raising his eyebrow.

   Saadhika slapped Ash's arm in return. "Hey!" she reprimanded albeit with a teasing tone in her voice, "We don't have a hidden stack of stolen millions somewhere. And, no, we just told him what we planned then he hit it off by sending us these designer clothes. To be honest, I would rather have a raise so I can actually afford more of these stuff."

   "But this is really kind of him, don't you think so?" Christina gushed as she kept looking at her red soles, "Can we keep these?"

   "And creepy," Ash grimaced, "What kind of a man who knows your sizes?"

   "This is Donato," Saadhika replied, shrugging, "so, he probably knew more than your clothing size, your real IQ, and what you're hiding in your underwear drawer." Then, with a smirk, she continued, "By the way, apparently you still own that red thong?"

   Ash's grimace turned even sour at that comment. "I am going to kill that Englishman one day," he whispered, more to himself than to the ladies.

   "That has to wait at some time. We need the guy at the moment," Christina chirped as she fished out her mobile phone in her pocket and tapped away on it, "Ah! He's ready to greet us by the entrance."

   With that, Ash followed the other two to the main entrance of Pier59 Studios (not without one final look at the IAC Building). The 'he' in question was becoming one of Gucci's most favoured designer who went by simply 'Sacha'. Ash heard from the others that he was often responsible for the brand's most successful collections to date and catering to a generation where labels hardly exist. He was known for showcasing androgynous statement pieces where masculine cuts and feminine styles mesh together in harmony. So far, Ash found out that this person had just finished a exclusive-only runway in London and now had booked a place in the Pier59 Studios for another secretive runway where the tickets had to be pre-booked several months before the event.

   "There was also a Q&A session for the winners of his latest competition," Christina told Ash when the ticket for the event was handed to him. She then added with a wink, "That obviously never happened."

   Ash was still skeptical on how a Gucci fashion designer tied to the latest hunt for the next part of the algorithm. From all the information that he had uncovered about the designer, Ash gathered that Sacha was a colourful one who did not seem to be the subtle and secretive type and who was always available (and extremely loud) in social media. However, the guys in Saadhika's team were convinced enough that this designer have information for them (or more likely, Donato) to shell out thousands of dollars to meet him. Maybe he just have money to waste, Ash thought, rolling his eyes in the process.

   "By the way," Ash started as they turned a corner of the warehouse, "that Caucasian that you caught? Just saw him the other night."

   Saadhika turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "That's impossible," she said, "he was dead in the car back to our main headquarters before we could question him - I told you before. There was a lethal pill hiding under his tongue - he bit into it and killed him instantly."

   "No," Ash retorted in a whisper, "it was definitely him - the other Caucasian that you caught must have pretended that he died and escaped when you people aren't looking."

   Saadhika further frowned, "The body is still at the headquarter's basement - we just examined it this morning. The guy's dead, Ash."

   Ash's intuition had never failed him and, indeed, it was very rare for him to be very unsure about things. He was at first and he had spent pacing back and forth in his bedroom just right after the Caucasian vanished from his street. However, Ash's trained eyes had already studied and filed enemies that he came across - the way they held himself, the subtle ways they walked, and the way they pinpoint the sharp glints in their eyes on the middle of Ash's forehead. No, Ash was sure that it was the same enemy that had been following him after a lot of pondering. He would just have to assess the impostor lying in the bowels of the headquarters.

   "Well, we'll just have to discuss that some other time," Christina piqued then added with a shiver, "I still can't stop shuddering at the thought when the bastard vomited and bled all over our new carpet." With an excited gleam in her eyes, she pointed at the row warehouses by the pier, "Besides, we are here!"

   The main entrance of Pier59 Studios was crowded with attendees for various event, mostly college students going to what was seem to Ash a job fair judging from the various flyers and free pens that they were holding. There were also the more casual group of people who were going straight toward The Deck for food and refreshments and those who could be in for smaller talks in the smaller studios. However, he could spot those who would attend the exclusive runway judging from the press IDs from Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines. It was a stark contrast from the few people dressed in prized designer goods compared the larger crowds of younger people with worn jeans and campus sweaters. The ones who will be saddled with bankruptcy and debt even if they work their asses off, Ash concluded as he made his way inside the large building with the two ladies. Ash had also concluded a long time ago that America would always be a breeding ground for a separation in castes veiled in freedom speech.

   They reached Stage C of the Pier59 Studios with a bouncer waiting for them by the entrance doors. Ash, Saadhika, and Christina all showed their exclusive tickets when prompted then were led into the dark studio. Ash whistled, impressed when they entered a room that was transformed into a star-studded scenery with trailing twinkling lights that hang from the ceiling in a dramatic wave. The runway was lit up in white light marred with moving water textures. The far end of the runway was veiled by a smooth waterfall that fell on a small pond and stream surrounding the catwalk. The seats around the stage were not the usual folding chairs that were mostly likely seen on most fashion events but velvety black armchairs that were arranged in neat rows.

   "This guy knows how to blow his budget," Ash commented, still looking around the space as the three of them were seated on the armchairs placed at the front.

   "Spared no expense, darling!" A booming voice echoed across the studio.

   From behind the stage strutted out an incredibly tall black man wearing the one of the most outrageous piece that Ash had ever seen. The man was wearing a high-waist black flared out slacks with a rhinestone-studded zebra pattern, a series of paralleled bandages across the slender but athletic body that only covered the nipples, and a over-sized pink fur jacket that looked more like a cape by the way it trailed behind him. Sitting on a high nose was a pair of an exaggerated cat eye glasses which were also covered in rhinestones. These details screamed at Ash so much that he could not help but to notice them; he was a person would only look at the subtle cuts and stitching to get an idea of the brand. Now that his eyes were bombarded with these aggressive details, he could not help but to only think, Oh my God. This guy could even give The Fly a run for his money, Ash concluded as he continued to look at the strutting man with a gobsmacked expression.

   "I especially would never spare a single dollar for you three cuties," the overly-dressed man said as he turned towards them on the runway. Ash watched as the man literally posed right in front of them, bending at the knees and placing his hands upon his hips in an airy fashion.

   "Well, Donato definitely did not spare his thousands of dollars just for us to see you, Sacha," Saadhika commented as she got up from her armchair and walked towards the man - Sacha. With a hand held out for a shake, she greeted the man with a smile, "But it is good to see you again, Sacha."

   Sacha, who seemed to be just as flamboyant as his clothing, gracefully took Saadhika's hand to plant a noisy kiss upon it instead. "And it is always a pleasure to see you, my darling." He then turned to Christina, playfully blowing a kiss in her direction, "And this sexy lady right over here." And when his attention finally landed on Ash, he slowly pushed down his glasses and gave the other a wink, "And - ooh! It's always nice to see a new handsome one." With a dramatic wave of his hand, he offered it to Ash, "Sacha."

   When he finally came out of his stupor, Ash shook off his gobsmacked demeanor and went to shake Sacha's hand - which, judging from the childish pout, seemed to disappoint the other man a little. "It's nice to meet you," Ash greeted the other man, deciding to be a little bit diplomatic. "I am very much impressed with what have you done with the dark studio."

   "Oh my! Isn't he a polite one?" Sacha gushed, moving to pinch one of Ash's cheeks, "Too polite, I fear. C'mon, darling, I don't bite much so you can wave your 'stranger, danger' signals away. They offend me too much."

   "Your ever-radiating flamboyance have broken this guys a little, Sacha," Christina teased as Ash rubbed his pinched cheek, "He's not normally this speechless."

   Sacha cackled so loud it reverberated across the room. "I might just take that as a compliment," he said, looking Ash up and down, "You'll get used to me in no time, darling." Then Ash observed as Sacha made a small surprised sound as straightened up, looking at the entrance doors behind them. "Oh dear, oh dear. No time for chit-chats, darlings - that all need to come later on the VIP Q&A after the show. Our other guests are here." With a final wink at their direction, Sacha strutted back to the end of the stage as he commanded instructions towards the other staff milling around.

   Ash watched in awe as the staff was immediately mobilised by the clap of Sacha's hands, adjusting the final touches around the dark studio with military precision. I can't even get my gang moving this quick half the time, Ash thought as he lounged back into his armchair. He then looked back at the entrance where the guest were finally filling up the studio. There were the press from certain fashion magazines such as Elle, and Vanity Fair, who were mulling around with their fashion photographers. There were young starlets with their wide-eyed fascination around the transformed dark studio, and older celebrities with their more poised entrance. Then, Ash's eyes widened when a small team of big names appeared whom included Beyoncé in a sleek burgundy dress in a halter strap. However, the cherry on the cake - in the fashion world, per se - was Vogue's very own Anna Wintour donned in a sleek but subtle cream-coloured coat and oversized dark sunglasses, flanked by her many assistants.

   The view particularly excited Christina. "Anna Wintour!" she gasped as her eyes trailed over the Vogue's editor-in-chief, "Of course, she would be privy to exclusive fashion shows!" Then, she went to whisper to Ash and Saadhika, "Do you think I can get her autograph?"

   "I think you wanted more than an autograph," Ash pointed out, noticing a particular gleam in the other's eyes.

   Christina smirked in reply, "Oh, it won't be something that she cannot handle, I'm sure. I just wanted to be privy to her draft versions of the magazine in exchange for the early designs for the next collections that Channel and Balenciaga are planning to do next season."

   "So, you're basically going to hack their collections?" Ash retorted with his own smirk, "That is just going to be a waste of resources."

   "Hey," Christina interrupted, the gleam in her eyes sharpened further, "The people over here have connections to politicians and other powerful people and, in turn, those people have their own branches of connections - even underground and mafia connections to various countries. It's a little dirty - but it pays to have powerful friends." With a wry smile, she continued, "Although, they are really your enemies than friends in reality. I'm sure you know what I mean."

   Ash did and painfully so. Golzine liked to keep his enemies closer than his friends; he was watchful of their every step, every move akin to chess pieces that he could play along at first before usurping them all. He would keep an eye on their rising stocks and shares, shaking hands and congratulating them well done on their successful businesses, and acting marveled at the accumulating capital before laying a mousetrap to claim them all for himself. He also liked to target younger, more ambitious businessmen and women whose greed would often get the better of them. Then, if Golzine was feeling 'particularly moved' by all the crying, he would offer to help these young people - in exchange for sex that they never want to offer. If Ash had not been too focused on escaping himself, he would have cried and wept for the gullible ones; the ones who had felt there was no choice for them; the ones who have been too tangled in Golzine's web and eaten at the back alley of an innocent-looking restaurant where everyone else came and gone. Ash would one day weep for all of them.

   "I like to be the idealistic one," Saadhika interrupted and taking Ash out of his thoughts, "The world is getting smarter and smarter every generation. I'd like to think you will end up with more real friends than enemies."

   "You're just as jaded as the rest of us, Saadhika," Christina replied but was not looking directly at the other woman. Ash noted that the bushy-haired girl was set on avoiding Saadhika's eyes. "In fact, I think you have experienced that way too much," she continued, clenching her fists on her lap.

   But Saadhika still smiled, true and unveiled. She was accepting but Ash could pick up something behind that told him and possibly everyone else that she was not backing down either. "Might have done," she said in a whisper, wistful and trailing, "But you can only be too jaded before it consumes you wholly. It's a feat that can be easily done - too easily, in my opinion."

   Ash smiled despite himself. "You're an idealistic one," he commented.

   "It pays to be," Saadhika replied.

   "Ladies and gentlemen!" Sacha's now familiar booming voice rocketed the whole studio, "It's time for the show. May I have your attention, please?"

   The music started, a dance-techno piece that boomed and reverberated across the studio. Ash watched as the sidelights at the corners of the room dimmed and the stars that hang around the studio brightened even more. The catwalk, with its moving water patterns, illuminated as the music builds up and the beat dropped when, one by one, the models finally came forward. Whilst they were all very beautiful women and men as you would expect to find on the runway, they were a mix of ages, weight, and length and all were donned in colourfully bright, almost avant-garde pieces with either oversized shoulder pads, flowing sleeves that trail to the ground, and asymmetrical cuts and stitches. However, they were all worn with such confidence that Ash had never seen before - shoulders square, eyes bright and clear despite the artistic makeup, and legs marching to match every dazzling electricity of the tempo and every resonating beat of the percussion. As if catwalking on Saturn's rings than on a mere stage on Earth.

   Ash lent forward after a few mere moments, his chin resting upon his closed hands in anticipation and his foot tapping into the changing music; the snotty operas and ballets as a source of entertainment in his caged world were mere faded and forgotten photographs at the back of his mind. There were always something that bored him over time. This - this was new and young, with its noisy lights and blaring music that screamed attention. For the first time, Ash was reminded there would always going to be younger generation that could take over the world.

 

   The backstage that they were led into was definitely muted than the main stage, but it was organised with no loose cord nor misplaced pieces of makeup lying around. The models were brisk when changing out of their costumes and into their more casual attire, business-like and precise. It was a little amusing to see for Ash; it seemed that their personalities did not quite change from the dazzling runway to the more subdued backstage and makeup room. This Sacha person sure likes to employ the right people, Ash pondered, smirking a little as the last model left with power in his heels and swing in his arms - swaggering, Ash deduced.

   Ash, Saadhika, and Christina were led to a closed off room at the back with the only furniture being a small coffee table and a set of leather love-seat sofas. Sacha was already in the room, talking to a phone on his ear in a hushed tone. When the man's dark eyes finally took notice of them, they were gestured towards the leather seats. "One minute," Sacha mouthed at them with an apologetic crinkling of his eyes before going back to the phone with a measured voice. Ash sat down at the far left of one of the love-seats with Christina following suit and accompanying him at the other end. Saadhika then plopped onto one of two leather armchairs, placed at one end of the coffee table.

   "This might take a while. Sacha liked to be in a conversation for a long time," Saadhika told Ash in a low tone, "He's a chatty one - no matter if it is a friend or an enemy."

   "An extrovert, I see," Ash said, raising his eyebrows, "and you still think we can trust him to keep secrets?"

   Christina giggled, "It was hard but the loss of his exclusive access to free MAC and Sephora products were apparently too heart-breaking to handle." At Ash's unconvinced face, she added, "His words, not mine."

   Ash huffed, lounging back onto his seat and crossing his legs over the other. "Still not convinced, I'm afraid," he said, "He's a hard character to figure out and, to be honest, I tend to clash with them most of the time." Like that disgusting Yut-Lung, Ash added in thought.

   "And I could agree with you, darling," Sacha interrupted as he finally put his phone down and walked over to the three. He flung himself into the other armchair, wriggling into his seat and crossing his leg over the other, "no one should just others by just one look. You may think I worship goddesses of fashion such as our Miss Anna Wintour. But she annoyed me in so many occasions so I sometimes decline her offers to feature my signature pieces on Vogue - a great loss as many fashionistas would say. Oddly, Miss Wintour seems to like that attitude - now, she can't to stop pestering me every fashion show." Then, he straightened up in his seat and batted his eyelashes at his three guests, "So, what can I get you? Coffee? Tea? Ooh! I just bought this amazing loose leaf tea - it's called New York Breakfast and it tastes like pancakes! With maple syrup!"

   Ash grimaced at that. "Urgh, no thanks," he said, almost gagging, "I'm not into sweet stuff."

   Sacha shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said as he got up from his seat and prepared a pitcher of black coffee and a pot of tea at a little kitchenette at the corner of the room. "Donato had mentioned that you little dears had quite the fun time breaking that algorithm."

   "You know about it?" Ash asked, a little surprised at that.

   "Well, of course, darling," Sacha replied, bringing the tray with the beverages back to the coffee table, "you just don't become the most successful double-agent without not knowing the secrets of the world. But I don't work for an agency - I go private most of the time."

   "A mole-!" Ash gasped whilst still looking the man up and down in disbelief.

   "Donato mentioned that you just got out of Cambodia last week," Christina piped in before Ash could interrogate more, "and you have some information regarding a part of that Japanese's algorithm. We are thinking of mobilising Mr Burton's team as well but that is depending how big this is going to be."

   "With that thing on the line? Of course, it's always going to be big," Sacha said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Secrecy could only go so far before intelligence agencies around the world, public or private, starts hearing about it. The UN is in a bit of a fix nowadays and have been demanding results from Europe and USA."

   "We try as much as we can to deter some enemies but some are a little bit more persistent," Saadhika reassured in return. Ash looked on as she put her hand inside her coat and pulled out wad of glossy papers - photographs, he recognised. "Mostly are very pale Caucasians, all almost above 6 foot in height, some averagely build, some are a bit athletic, and they tend to switch from wearing high-designer brands to the normal retailers. We figured they were following us for a while and that is why we are constantly moving these days which is frustrating."

   Saadhika then laid them out onto the coffee table one by one. Ash recognised the man he met on one of them, laying on a metal counter with a dead look in his eyes. His blood ran a little colder. "We analysed one of them further but it is incredibly hard to trace him," she continued, "We looked at this guy's DNA records, his files and contacts on his phone, any possible profiles - nothing. He had impeccably covered his tracks. His phone is wiped clean and we can't even restore the deleted files."

   "Hm, I do know some agents tracing their own phones then wiping them clean off if one got caught," Sacha mused, taking one of the photographs and observing it up close. "I don't want to generalise but they look Eastern Europeans to me. They could be Russians but I can see some traits from a possible Eastern ancestry - Belorussian or Balts, for example."

   "That's what we thought," Christina chimed, "But we wanted to see if you thought the same."

   Whilst examining the other photographs, he noticed that while Sacha's demeanour did not quite go cold but Ash could see that it was more subdued despite the hum and the quirk on his lips - already a stark contrast from the colourful personality that he had put forward on the catwalk earlier. The others waited for him as he continued analysing the photographs and Ash's interrogations vanished for a brief moment as well. Ash observed as the man's eyes became more and more focused as he flit through the photographs, sharpening at each time they roved over these photographs.

   "I don't recognise these gentlemen," Sacha finally said, peeking over at Saadhika from behind the photograph that he was currently holding, "But I can tell from the tattoos that they are part of a Russian Mafia - the Solntsevskaya Bratva." At this, Sacha held up a photograph and pointed at the exposed wrist. When Ash and the others looked closer, they spotted an oddly-shaped faint birthmark. "I don't know if you notice the recognisable hammer and sickle then an outline that seems to look like an eagle behind it."

   "The Bratva?" Ash piqued as he moved back from the photograph, "The last time I heard the only mafias who have ties to Russia that are operating in the US are the Odessa Mafia at Brighton Beach and the AP-13. I can't seem to remember Solntsevskaya trying to mobilise further into the US."

   "Being the most powerful mafia in Russia, it is only predictable that they want to extend territories," Christina mused, "With Dino Golzine gone, there is a bit of a power vacuum in Manhattan. Cosa Nostra is in the process of taking over but were always stopped by the directives in Unione Corse. They moved to target Chicago instead." She then turned to Sacha, "I can't see the Odessa Mafia taking this lying down. The Solntsevskaya would want expand even more to the whole of New York and that meant war between two mafia families."

   "I won't be jumping into that conclusion anytime soon," Sacha argued, "As far as I am concerned, there are less and less strife between the Russian groups." Then, he turned to Ash with an indescribable look in his eyes. Of course, this in turn made Ash all the more curious. "I don't think you should be here, Ash Lynx. I have encountered too many Italian-American mafias in this country to not know about you and your 'involvement' with them. If you know what I mean."

   Ash braced himself and stayed seated on the sofa. "If you think that's going to affect me now, you got it wrong," he countered.

   The almost solemn look on Sacha's face did not fade away. "That may be so. But it doesn't make it hurt any less," he said in a soft tone. He then turned to Saadhika, "The same goes for you."

   This prompted Ash to widen his eyes a little and look at Saadhika. It was clear to Ash that she was a little irked after Sacha's declaration judging from the furled eyebrows and the slight downward quirk at the side of her lips. Whether because of the light behind her back or because of the dim lightning in the space, Ash still couldn't make out the emotions on her face at the time. Saadhika stood still on the armchair, crossed legs and slackened shoulders. He then turned to Christina, who only looked confused with a frown on her face and unspoken question that she couldn't voice by the look of her open mouth.

   "I'll survive," Saadhika stated to Sacha. Then, she plucked her mobile phone from her pocket and started typing on it, "A grapevine told us that the other teams in CIA has spotted some odd activity between two rival Russian gangs in the underground red light district of Khemarak Phoumin. They spotted that members from the Solntsevskaya mafia and Chechen mafia - the biggest rivals gangs in Russia - in an unmapped location, a warehouse on a port. The members seemed to appear friendly - almost too friendly for rival gangs who often ignited wars in the past." Then she looked at Sacha over her phone. "I know you didn't go to Cambodia recently to do a bit of friendly international gambling, Sacha."

   "Ooh! Look at this lady right here," Sacha gushed, winking at both Ash and Christina, "So sharp she would cut a lesser person. Too bad, I am made of something else - rainbows and sprinkles, darlings! So she couldn't cut me even if she tried." With a playful smirk, Sacha then turned to Saadhika, "You are right to presume that I do have quite an involvement with the whole thing. I went there for an event for up and coming Cambodian designers in a resort. The rich trophy wife of the Thai mafia boss and her retainers were one of the attendees. We've known each other from previous fashion shows that I attended in Southeast Asian and when I said that I am a designer from Gucci, well, let's say she was ever more keen to make my acquaintance. That, of course, made my eavesdropping all the lot more easier - for them, it's easy to underestimate a flamboyant, air-headed American with a big social media presence."

   "Works better if you are young as well," Christina chimed.

   "Doesn't matter. If they think you are a dumb American, they will always think you are a dumb American," Sacha then lounged back onto his seat with chin resting upon his hand. "Anyway, they also did not know that I know good enough Thai to understand what they are saying. So, they have no clue that I found out that they are going to meet with a member of Khmer Rouge - yes, that is unfortunately starting again - for an arms trade; that I found out that they are going to sell organs that they 'harvested' to private hospitals controlled by the Indonesian gangs; and that I found out that they are going to trade with the two Russian mafias - particularly two cute, little Southeast Asian twins that were their leader and wife's favourite pets for a year or so. I believe they are around nine years old."

   Ash sucked in a breath but he just about to manage to control the bile that was threatening to lurch out of his mouth. His gripped his hands tight together, praying that they would not start to quake, clenching them into two iron fists that threatened to destroy everything in the room. He imagined two very scared, wide-eyed children, cornered inside the back of a van with only monsters as company, dreadfully waiting for their fates - like he had been since twelve years ago, in that similar warehouse, in that similar large master bedroom, and in those similar dingy hellholes were shadows eat you from the dark nook and crannies.

   "Whoever they were, they must be important - the Thai mafia had managed to bag a pretty good deal out of it, too," Sacha said as he plopped a sugar cube into his tea then stirred slowly, "A handsome trade route for drug trafficking into Eastern Europe. Rumors say that both the Solntsevskaya mafia and Chechen mafia had likely worked together and overthrown the Albanian mafia who held this trade route. I gathered that it wasn't easy as the Albanian mafia have a lot of strongholds and allies around the whole of Europe."

   "The intel from the other CIA teams have gathered that much and they have managed to track their movements for months thanks to your information," Saadhika stated as she showed the phone at Sach, "however this is the first time I have heard about the kids."

   "Not even in passing?" Sacha pressed, raising his eyebrow.

   "Not even a quick mention," Saadhika added as she handed her phone to Sacha. She continued as the man scrolled through the information, "They are a meticulous lot, too, and no matter how much miniscule the information is, they have learnt not to underestimate what has been given to them - especially when they came from you. So, either you haven't told them of this or they have left that information out when they shared their reports to me."

   "Oooh!" Sacha cooed, eyes widening in mock surprise, "Well, isn't this an interesting turn?" But the man lent forward and rested his chin upon his hands, eyebrows wriggling in a suggestive manner as he passed the phone back to Saadhika. "But I suspect that you somehow already know that."

   "I tried reaching out to them more," Saadhika replied, "but they are being suspiciously hard-pressed to ask information for..." She left her words hanging and even if her face was showing no signs, Ash could tell from the wavering of the gleam behind her eyes that she was at least a little upset about the lack of cooperation. However, he noticed that she was not that particularly surprised nor even a little perturbed - just exhausted.

   Sacha sighed dramatically, "This whole song and dance between you and the rest of the CIA have been going forever." But the exasperation never lasted as he smirked again at Saadhika's decision, "Do you even have a plan to reign them in? Despite your predicament, I know you have enough power too-." He ended there abruptly as he pursed his lips in thought and his finger tapped upon his chin. "No..., not power. Knowlegde." And with a pointed look at Christina, "And influence. That's it. Sometimes, a dainty hand in a velvet glove is more dangerous than an iron fist."

   And innocence can be more dangerous than corruption, Ash suddenly though in his head - the same words uttered by Max echoing in his subconscious. It was a statement that he never took to mind as a substantial matter two years ago but it had been sitting still as an annoying weight, like a small stone inside his worn down shoes that he could not get out. He had denied it vehemently which was a mistake as it dropped heavy as a bomb upon his soul when the most important person in his life finally took its bullet.

   "I wouldn't say dangerous - just capricious at times. Chancy, at worst," Saadhika stated. Ash observed as she peered at Sacha, head bowed but her eyes were shining bright with the same clear gleam that he had familiarised with her. There was a teasing smile on her face, but not malicious.

   Sacha sighed again but it was a mocking gesture that hid his amusement. "Whatever works for you, honey," he said as he stood up to make his way towards the nearby vanity. "Good thing for you that I managed to keep up with the two cuties until I lost them not too long ago, but time is ticking and I don't really want them to be caught by anyone - anyone - beside your team, if you know what I mean?"

   From inside a drawer, Sacha then pulled out a plastic bag and pushed it gently towards the team. When Ash inspected it closer, he noticed that there were two small chips covered in dried blood. "They were just animals to them, huh?" Ash mused, more to himself than to others in the room, with eyes looking blankly at the plastic bag. That familiar tiny bile crawled up from the back of his throat again but Ash miraculously managed to keep down. Unlike Christina on his side who had gasped and looked away, dry retching into her hand that was pressed firmly on her mouth. "Disgusting," he heard her murmur and Ash could not agree more.

   "I also have these," Sacha said, sliding a piece of paper towards Saadhika, "it's a program code delivered to me by one of my compatriots in Cambodia. We haven't managed to look too much into it but you lot are the experts so I'll let you handle this." Then with a wink at Ash's direction, he added, "More than experts now, if I say so myself, so I can safely say that you'll know what to do. It was left alongside not too far away from where the chips were."

   Saadhika smiled at Sacha, diverting away from the plastic bag on the coffee table. "Thank you, Sacha," she said, accepting the piece of paper, "I'm sure this will be a lot of help to us. These two kids also left us a lot of DNA. It would be a lot of work tracking them but at least we maybe able to come up with patterns they might take from the last time they have been spotted." She then gave a nod towards the plastic bag on the coffee table. "They did it themselves right? Or else whoever cut them out of their skins must be a careless fucker."

   Sacha hummed with fingers stroking his chin, "If judging from the amount of blood they left back, I could say so." Then, he straightened out and looked at the three of them directly. "My team managed to track them up to the warehouses along Gravesend Bay but there was an 'altercation' between the boys from our two Russian mafias and the Oddessia mafia gave them a leeway for escape. The panic from the members of the Solntsevskaya that ensued afterwards gave us the idea that they managed to lose them, too - thank God for that.The plastic bag and the program code were discovered along the smaller streets in Fort Hamilton. But other than those, we have no other clue but your loyal English beagles might do a better job. As for me, my contract with the lovely Donato have ended." He then pouted, "Didn't even stayed for a wonderful pillow talk, that cur."

   "Understood," Saadhika told Sacha as she took the plastic bag and folded it multiple times until it was no bigger than her palm. She then tucked underneath her dress, nestling it by her bosom and inside her bra. "We'll be going now. The rest of the boys must be bored just installing the safety measures in our computers." With a raised eyebrow towards Ash's direction, she added, "No thanks to you and your layers of passwords."

   Saadhika then stood up from her seat with both Christina and Ash following after her. With only a slight raise of his eyebrows, Ash was then then handed over the paper with the program code towards along with an affirmative nod of her head. He took it after a slight hesitation, subconsciously lingering his gaze towards the other and somehow was unable to break the connection that that piece of paper made between them. But Ash did let go and his eyes did take in the formulas and sequences in that piece of paper. The paper was a substantial weight on his hands and he knew that this was something that he would need to grapple soon. However, there was something at the back of his mind that was telling him that this problem would have to wait, that there was something more important - either for himself or for the whole world, Ash did not know. For now, he pocketed the program code.

   There was a knock on the door just by the time the three of them said their farewells towards Sacha. "How queer," Sacha mused, "I am not expecting anybody else this afternoon but oh well. Come in!"

   A meek-looking girl peered in through the door. "Sacha, a visitor wan- was required to see y-you," she said with wide nervous eyes and Ash could not help but to notice every tremble in her voice.

   "Hmm? Really?" Sacha mused, crinkling his eyebrows in worry and placing a hand on his cheek. Ash noted that he seemed too undisturbed. "I don't recall having any more business other than my lovely VIP winners here?" Then, the designer's eyes sharpened as he smiled at the girl. "Now, why don't you come in here, have a cup of coffee, and explain how you went past my staff and found this undisclosed room? You're not wearing the specialised lanyards that the whole of my staff uses."

   The girl jumped at Sacha's revelation and her grip on the door tightened, knuckles whitening. "I-I...," the girl trailed, lower lip quivering.

   Then, a distant noise. Ash gasped before whipping out his revolver and aiming it at the window of the room. "Get down!" he yelled as bullets started firing into the room.

   Everyone in the room threw themselves onto the floor and behind the sofas to protect themselves. Ash was only grateful that whoever was firing the bullets were not an expert sniper judging by how much they missed.The girl by the door, though, was not so lucky as a bullet went through her arm and her side, her blood painting the white door beside her. Sacha dived to gather her in his arms. Christina, who was closest to the window at the time, crawled hurriedly towards the blinds and closed them shut. Ash scanned the room and spotted the fire alarm. He took a shot. The blares of the alarm filled the whole building and water sprayed all over them from the pipes attached to the ceiling. More bullets came but they faded away as soon as the sound of the crowd walking out the building started. A few moment and there were only the alarm, the water, their heavy breathing and the pained sobbing from the girl who got shot, all reverberating inside the room. But no bullets - at the meantime.

   Christina whispered, "I think they backed off." Ash nodded in agreement yet he noticed that the bushy-haired girl was still alert and her feet were taught like a wound up spring, ready for action. Ash's grip on his revolver did not lessen its tightness either. It took several minutes before everyone calmed down and their attention was then turned to Sacha and the girl with the former pressing his coat onto the wound to lessen the blood loss and making soft hushing sound to calm the still sobbing girl. She's a mess, Ash noted as he moved in to kneel down beside the two, his revolver safely tucked into the waistband of his Berluti corduroys. He then asked, "How is she?"

   "The wound looked worse than the actual damage," Sacha told Ash and Christina, rocking the distressed girl in his arms. "The bullet when through muscle and grazed the bone but it wasn't shattered and no vital organs were hit." Then, looking back at the girl, he stated, "But you are going to have some ugly scars on you."

   "A-am I going t-to... the p-police?" the girl stammered, her terrified wide eyes wet with fear, "I swear I d-didn't want to d-do this!"

   "Hush now, honey," Sacha said back in a soft tone, "Believe me, girl, we might end up in a bigger mess if we call them. Although, don't fool yourself that you are getting out of this, young lady. That's because you'll be coming with me, sweetie."

   The girl then continued her sobbing as Christina moved in to bandage the wounded arm with a piece of torn cloth. Sacha was pressing onto the bullet wound on the girl's side. Ash could not help but to feel incredibly sorry at her bad luck. She's just someone who is caught in the middle, he thought, a disposable pawn. Slightly comforted by the fact that the girl would be taken care of by both Sacha and Christina, Ash moved away and started to look for the empty cartridges across the floor. He spotted one and bent down to pick it up, inspecting it under the small ray of light that made it through the torn blinds. It was sizable, around fifty millimetres, and no doubt came from a machine gun. Bold of them to fire machine guns near a public domain, Ash added as he threw back the cartridge on the floor.

   "A 7.62x51 millimetres NATO," Saadhika's voice suddenly spoke. Ash whipped his head to the direction of her voice and found her by the window, peering through the blinds and looking through the throng of people that were exiting the building.

   "You are fairly accurate for someone who just took a glance at them," Ash commented as he joined the other, "Identifying bullets is something that you are familiar with, I guess? Alongside hacking the security of New York building, of course."

   Saadhika then broke off from her spying to cast a wry smile in Ash's direction. "I just took a hint," she said, "but, between you and me, I could say I have the unfair advantage as I actually work for the government."

   Ash raised his eyebrow in return, "You played it dirty with that knowledge, then? Didn't think the computer techies at CIA would know that much about military weaponry, at that."

   Saadhika moved away from the window but kept her gaze and the wry smile towards Ash. "I had my resources and, well, if you got it then why not use it?" she stated as she approached Sacha and Christina. She pulled out the plastic bag and handed it to Christina, "I might make a little detour once we get out of this place. I've contacted Sacha's partners and they are coming to get him and the girl out to a safe house. You and Ash continue on with them as well until our own team picks you - they'll be here to fetch us in ten minutes." She then threw off her coat then reached for something just under the skirt of her dress. Ash's eyes widened as Saadhika reached for a Beretta pistol from a holster that was strapped around her right thigh. "They haven't completely backed off, yet," Saadhika continued as she reached into her pocket to load the gun with bullets, "so, I'll give them a chase around the warehouses. They'll be meeting you by the Waterside Park so make sure you get there in ten minutes. But they will be busy with me."

   "CIA can't lose you, darling," Sacha said to Saadhika. Ash noticed the seriousness in his normally teasing voice. "They have a long history with you."

   Saadhika cocked her gun as she replied, "I know. And it has to end at some point." The glint in her eyes went hard and it gleamed bright in the darkened room. "I'll end it. Ash, Christina. See you back at the location."

   With that and a small salute, Saadhika bolted out of the room. It was only after a bare minute did Ash notice the numerous bullet holes on the arm chair where Saadhika hid. "Jesus, she's going to get herself killed," Ash muttered, sucking in a breath and already gripping his revolver.

   "Hold it right there," Christina called, reaching out to take hold of Ash's ear and pulled. Ignoring Ash's cry of pain, she continued, "You're coming with me, mister. Someone needs to help us with the algorithm and hacking these microchips."

   Slapping Christina's hand away, Ash whipped his head to look at the other in alarm. "Your friend is about to face semi-automatic assault rifles and machine guns out there," he said as if Christina was not that all aware of the danger, "She won't be able to take them out all by herself."

   "Of course, she won't be taking them down - that would be stupid of her," Christina retorted, "She's only diverting their attention away from us. She's not as good as you with a gun, but she's very wily. And these idiots won't be using those weapons too much so near to the public." With a smile, she added, "Trust her a little, yeah?"

   Ash was still unsure about that but the pained moan of the girl in Sacha's arms convinced him to stay with them. Christina and Sacha would need protection too especially with an injured person with them. He could only pray that Saadhika would be safe at the moment. Ash nodded at Christina, prompting the girl to help Sacha support the wounded girl who seemed to be getting more lightheaded from the blood loss. Once Sacha apprised him towards the exit closest to them without going into the open, Ash took his position in front of them. "But make sure to keep an eye behind you as well," Ash told Sacha and Christina behind him who both gave him a thumbs up. Three minutes had gone by already.

   Mustering all the stealth that he could, Ash led the group through corridors and halls and all the cumbersome places with as few windows as possible. They floor were wet and their footsteps echoed along with the splash of disrupted water. Ash's heart would always skip more than a beat whenever they were harsh shrills of shoes skidding along the floor. However, his sharp eyes were trained at his way, ignoring the rounds of bullets in the distance that his ears picked up as soon as they left that backroom. Time was ticking. The wounded girl almost could not walk straight and was starting to become a dead weight to Sacha and Christina. We should nearly be there, Ash told himself and he gripped his revolver tight in his clutch. They entered more corridors, turned around corners, and hid behind walls as soon as other people's footsteps were heard within their vicinity. Left, right, right again, then straight behind a set of lockers at the corner to hide. It was a song and dance that Ash was familiar of.

   "Just one more left turn," Sacha reminded Ash as they moved into another darkened corridor. Soon, they managed to spot the lit up 'FIRE EXIT' sign by the double doors. Ash moved ahead and slowly opened one of the doors, wincing as it creaked. The alley was half covered by the golden light of the late afternoon sun, disarrayed and disturbed by the warehouses on the port. Ash moved into one of the shadows, swift and almost threading by his tip toes. He crouched down and scanned the area, making sure to keep an eye for any surprises from the crevices between buildings and warehouses. With a flick of his head, Ash beckoned the others to follow suit as he threaded across pavements and peered behind buildings. Soon, the familiar traffic noise from the 11th Avenue reached Ash's ears. A few more hiding then run as fast as we can, he thought but then winced when he remembered the nearly unconscious girl with them. Act quick, what was on Ash's mind, less than five minutes left.

   BANG!

   The bullet grazed Ash's cheek as he attempted to peer his head from his hiding place. Ash moved swiftly to aim his revolver in the middle of his enemy's forehead. Cocked and loaded, his fingers positioned to pull the trigger. But then another resounding bang came and Ash's target doubled over, clutching his wrist. The gun was nowhere to be found.

   "Get out, now! And run as fast as you can!"

   Ash sprung into action, yelling back at the others to run as well. The sounds of the bullets rapidly pierced his ears but as he moved further and further away, they faded until they were nothing more but an afterthought. Ash continued to lead the others behind the warehouses of the piers, choosing the shadowed areas and making sure to avoid the crowd by the main roads. The sound of Christina's gasp when the wounded girl fell over sent Ash's instincts into overdrive. Sharpened but nevertheless careful, Ash led on until he finally saw the pedestrian lanes crossing the 12th Avenue road. Two minutes left.

   "There are my boys over there!" Sacha called out, pointing at a thicket.

   Ash scanned his eyes through the bushes and small trees until he spotted a group of people looking around the area next to a parked silver SUV. It was the only confirmation that he needed as he commanded the others to crossed the road. He held back, looking behind them. No one had followed them but Ash's trained ears caught the distant sounds of relentless bullets from the piers they had come from. He looked, anticipating for Saadhika to spring up somewhere from the building alongside the Chelsea Piers. One minute came by and there was nothing.

   "Let's go, handsome," Sacha playfully called from behind him, "We need to get moving."

   Alarmed, Ash whipped his gaze towards the designer with furrowed brows. "We can't leave without her," he said in an incredulous tone, "I'll have to go back and help her out." Even though, he feared on what he would discover once he got back.

   "No need for that, darling," Sacha pressed, eyes boring into Ash's own despite the lightness in his voice, "She'll ask you for help when she needs it. If she didn't ask for it, then she doesn't need it." Then, with the familiar playful smirk, he added, "Besides, we need the other smart alec around - to reign in the bored IT assistants back. Who knows what kind of world domination they are planning now."

   Ash raised his eyebrows, "World domination?"

   "I stopped counting at twenty but they'll ping me when they managed to make their final drafts," Sacha said with a wink. Then, he tugged on Ash's hand. "Come on, handsome. We'll need to at least prove to Donato that you are alive."

   Before Ash could protest, he was dragged by the fashion designer to the silver SUV. The sounds of the bullets and the spraying of blood on that white door resonated in Ash's mind. And here he was, helpless once again with nothing but an unspoken apology on his lips as Ash glanced back at the piers one more time.

 

   Despite the changed decor, the cafe on the 114th Street just off the Broadway never lost its warm and cosy atmosphere despite its difference interior compared from the last time Ash entered the small shop. The tell-tale aroma of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamon was replaced by a subtle mix of lavender, rose, and chamomile. These flowers were also tastefully arranged in empty wine bottles, placed on the centre of each of the rusty tables of the cafe whilst curtains of wisteria draped from the top of the windows along with small fairy lights. The counter was still crowded with homemade cakes and other baked goods. The coffee grinder at the corner of the counter was being worked on, grinding roasted beans and pouring them in individual containers and ready to be purchased. Sipping on his jasmine green tea, Ash had to say that the owner - Claire, he recalled - did a good job on redecorating the whole place.

   "Claire always did make sure that the cafe would be decorated in accordance to the seasons," Donato commented lightly as he licked the thick cream cheese frosting from his fork, "Spring is nearly coming hence why all the flowers and floral teas."

   Ash looked onto the other man, the perturbed expression on his face returning as the man continued to dig into a large portion (two portions, really, if you asked Ash) of red velvet cake covered in a very thick wad of cream cheese frosting. As always, it was accompanied with another ridiculously sweet tea. No doubt both the cake and the tea were another poisonous concoctions that Claire came up with.

   "I hope your diabetes doctor is being paid accordingly," Ash said, shifting his seat away from the table in a fruitless attempt to escape the smell of pure sugar from the other man, "I can't bear to think about your blood sugar at the moment.

   "Aww, are you worried for me?" Donato cooed, a teasing gleam in his eyes that made Ash regret opening his mouth in the first place, "Don't worry, my blood sugar is only above the average so I won't die of a stroke nor a heart attack in the near future." He then continued with a chuckle, "Nope, don't worry about this old man at all. You should worry about yourself - you are walking around with these large dark circles for a while now."

   "I am doing alright," Ash could only huffed in reply as he sipped more of his green tea, letting the liquid sit on his tongue before swallowing it. It still left an unfamiliar sensation on Ash's tongue despite the amount of times he had drunk it before. "Green tea and tofu are good for you!" It was said with a broad smile and glinting eyes.

   Donato sighed as he sipped his tea, "You're working too hard."

   Ash refused to be humbled by the other's comment as he gave his own snarky quip, "Says you. I am not the only one with bags under my eyes." This was particularly true when Donato looked up at him, allowing Ash to see the extent of the other man's exhaustion in a better light. The blond could not help but to notice the increasing sallowness on the other's already pale skin, and the darkening of the loose skin under his eyes. In a way, Ash could say he was pretty worried.

   Donato, however, only shrugged and changed the subject. "The team had given me nothing but excellent feedback," he said, "Moreover, I could see that you have finally made use of my information looking at the fluctuating stock prices of Golzine's associates. Since you are 'officially dead', no one could figure out who is responsible for all of this at the moment." He then continued with a smirk, "But I have a feeling that you are only playing around at the moment."

   Ash smirked, a deep intent evidently entrenched in his sharp green eyes. "I am planning for a big finale once I'm done."

   "So, you are thinking of using the algorithm in the end," Donato said, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. There was an indistinguishable expression on his face but Ash chose to ignore it.

   "Possibly," Ash replied as he leaned back on his seat as well, "If you have the resources, why not use them? Don't tell me you're stopping me now. You're the one who suggested it to me in the first place."

   Donato shrugged and gulped his tea in one go. "Not at all," he replied back, "You're twenty and, thus, fully capable of making your own victories."

   'And losses,' Ash could hear the unsaid words. He was skeptical about Donato's words - and would probably stay skeptical about the man in general - but offered no counterargument. He had always thought that Donato was a man of dual morality - the plainest grey that never indicated black or white. The closest was Blanca until the man had gone out and confessed to him which made the grey fluctuate. There were no fluctuations to the greyness when it came to the man that Ash was facing now. Ash had admitted before that this fact left him on edge. However, when he got the chance to properly look at Donato on these rare occasion, he could also admit that it interested him as well. Ash would not say that out loud, though.

   Donato then pulled out a small map of New York and thrusted it towards Ash. "You'll need to move every now and then now that they have started tracking you too. That apartment is no longer safe - don't worry, it is still in your name," he said as he drew circles on random areas on the map. "The team are moving places to places in Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. I've also suggested that they separate from each other. That did not go down well but I think we may have more than the Russian mafia as the enemy."

   Ash nodded, remembering the way Saadhika had finally burst through the safe house with nothing but minor scuffs and grazes. But also with a spectacular temper that could give both Ash and Sing Soo-Ling a run for their money. "They just won't FUCKING GIVE UP!" Saadhika had roared, throwing her gun at the small glass coffee and shattering it to pieces. "I'll show them," she had muttered under her breath as she stalked over to the bathroom, slamming its door behind her so hard that Ash feared its hinges would come off. Saadhika was a tornado that came unannounced, leaving the others in a state of disconcertment until the moment that bathroom door opened again. Naturally, there was also awe in Ash's case - who knew that something so explosive could come from someone petite. After a few moments, it was business as usual and everyone were glued to their computer screens.

   It only took Ash a minute after the silver SUV drove off from the Waterside Park that it was the CIA that had been after them - the familiarity between Saadhika and this new enemy gave it away. Why they had not further pursued the rest of them and only targeted Saadhika, pretty much a techie that should be under some of these CIA agents that were after them, was anybody's guess. Ash had thought that CIA must at least know about his crucial role and involvement in breaking the algorithm. Surely they are not that sloppy, Ash had added in his thoughts whilst remembering his own run-in with the two agents, two years ago.

   "The CIA got their priorities skewed," Sacha had said, "but they were just as malicious - using a helpless, clueless girl like that is just downright nasty, darling." He had taken a pause and hummed with a finger upon his lips. "Now that you think about it. They seem to be desperate as well."

   'Desperate for what?' was the question that Ash had never gotten to ask as Sacha's team had sped away from the safe house. The question mulled in his head, going round and round in circles as it remained unanswered. The most obvious choice was to ask the lady herself but after the ordeal at the Chelsea Piers, it was unlikely for Ash to receive his answers looking at how hot-headed Saadhika had been recently. The others had been tight-lipped and Ash always came out futile no matter how much sweet-talking he did. It kept Ash wishing that he had at least Sacha's number, especially that the man seemed to have a strong impression of acquiring a lot of information with mafia groups as well. Even more so, the fashion designer would have infiltrated some of Golzine's associates by now. It will come in time, Ash thought decidedly.

   "I'll stay in Manhattan," Ash stated as he pocketed the map in his jacket, "I know a few places where they would not be able to follow me."

   Donato shrugged, "If it suits you. I don't think I'll have to worry about telling you where to go given your vast knowledge underground. Just don't get too invisible like you have done many times before."

   Ash rolled his eyes. "You've said that a million times," he groaned, "I'm not exactly a baby. Nor is everyone else. So, we don't need babysitters." This was not exactly a lie as Saadhika and the others never openly voiced their woes. However, the brief disgruntled looks towards the bodyguards was all the opinions Ash needed.

   "They're not babysitters. They're protection," Donato reiterated, turning to a playful yet patronising tone of voice, "You now hold one of the world's biggest secrets and the only one who has the knowledge to unlock it so leaving you on your lone wolf ways is risky. Besides, they do know how to back off when you are with the rest of the team. They know you are on safe hands then."

   As the man ended his scolding, Donato proceeded looked into his teacup with an almost wistful gaze. Almost, because Ash observed that the crease between the man's eyebrows never left. Definitely an indication that he was hiding something however Ash was still unsure if he should barge in or not. Although, may it had been too long.

   "You have this look, you know," Ash said, looking intently at Donato as the other continued to sip his tea.

   Donato's eyes sharpened and Ash had thought at that time, Bingo. "Oh? Pray tell, what face I am making right now?" the man asked Ash.

   Ash took a minute, narrowing his own eyes as well at the man. Not quite glaring, though; he did not want to give away his emotions at this moment. "You are making this almost guilty look at times when you really look at me," Ash replied back, "but you never meet my eyes."

   "Trick of the light," Donato retorted then added a smirk as he went on, "Don't tell me your eyesight is getting worse now."

   Ash would have fired back easily if it were not for the strain on that normally easy smile on Donato's face. It was always unusual to see his keeper's poker face almost crumbling - almost, because he knew that Donato would never reveal himself that easily. Although, it made Ash wonder if things were already falling apart before the other's eyes. No, that could not be it, Ash thought in his head and it was justified as well. If these months were anything to go by, it was proven to Ash that Donato was a man that was ahead of everyone else, calm even when some of his business had gone more than a little haywire. And he had found out that when some had edged near the brink of liquidation, the man had managed to pull enough strings (and maybe a couple of illegitimate ones) to bring them up running again. Just because he had not hacked Donato last time he needed information did not mean that Ash completely left the man's privacy - and why should he? It was not like Donato had not been nosy either. Thank God that the geezer have that incredibly competent secretary with him or else Ash would have presented all the dirt on this very table right now. He, however, still refused to open that file.

   And I should not care, Ash reminded himself. _"I know that you realise that sometimes it's hard not to be kind, Ash. And, all the time, I believe that you are the kindest person in the world."_

   "Yut-Lung went to Italy for business, by the way," Donato chipped as he forked another large piece of his cake, "something about thinking to start a luxurious private resort by the beaches around Capri. Therefore, he should be gone for a while."

   The mention of his name alone never failed to put a sharp edge on Ash's tone. "And I care why?" he snarled low yet making sure that at least one of his canines appeared.

   "I thought you would like to know that at least one is taking a break from breathing down your neck," Donato said before having a mouthful of his cake. After much chewing and swallowing, he continued, "And without his influence, things should be more clearer on what to do."

   "To do what?" Ash asked. When he only received a raised eyebrow, it hit him, "The files? Of course, you know about the files...." He let out a smirk. "Are you going to beg for yours?"

   "Not really, no," Donato replied in a rather abrupt way that made Ash frown a little, "I am not in a business of either begging for things nor forcibly taking them."

   "Confident that he didn't dig up any dirt on you?" Ash then queried, ensuring that his face was blank.

   An almost wry smile made its way to the other's man face and it made Ash frown further; the latter could, from just within him at least - and for the nth time -, that there was a never ending confusion in Donato Scordato's person. "Actually, I anticipate the opposite," the man admitted as he rested his chin on his hands, "I believe that he might have slithered his way into my most intimate data files at home and at work. Bunched them in a pile of documents and gave them to you." He let out a small laugh as he scratched the back of his head, "I must say, I am quite gobsmacked at the amount of hackers that the lad unleashed onto my systems. Quite a negligence on my part - I must have underestimated him a little bit."

   Ash's eyes widened as he further questioned, "... And you are not particularly threatened by that?"

   Donato's hand fell down as he leaned back onto his chair. His shoulders were relaxed and he looked straight into Ash's eyes. "I'm not going to say that what he had just done does not agitate me a little bit. Lee Yut-Lung might've made duplicates of the files contrary to what he had promised you - after all, the young man is still paranoid with the businessmen that he deals with," he admitted, "However, I am not about to make constant judgement of people and pass on consequences of my own making. Besides, I did say that it was a quite negligence on my part and thus, I think it's proper to hand over the judging to other people," and with a wink, "preferably, the two smart young men that I am dealing with at the moment."

   Ash just looked on to Donato, who had then continued finishing up his cake and tea, with more than just an ounce of astonishment. "I...," he started, slow and trailing, "... really don't know what to say right now."

   "Good," Donato chirped as he wiped around his mouth with a handkerchief, "I'm trying not to lose my ability to render other people speechless." He then grinned at Ash as he folded the fabric and placed it back on the table. "And it seems that I've still got it."

   When the man finally stood up and waved at Claire, Ash took this as a cue to leave as well. With a deep breath and slight furrowed eyebrows that he always seemed to permanently acquire as a result from conversations with Donato, Ash downed his green tea, looking at the leftover tea leaves at the bottom of the cup when he settled it down again on the table. He smiled, thinking how Eiji would have been proud of him drinking the whole bitter concoction without gagging. Then he would tease me for days about it, Ash added as an afterthought with a full on grin as he stood up from his chair.

   The night breeze tickled through their hair as both Ash and Donato stepped outside of the cafe. As per usual, they were greeted by the sight of a mixture of exhausted and a little bit more bright-eyed students from the nearby Columbia University. The roads remained relatively quite with none of the hustle and bustle that one would expect from the city of New York, with only one or two vehicles passing by every ten minutes. For Ash, this was could end up being quite a peaceful walk towards the 116th Street Station if it was not for his current company. Donato, despite looking like he might fall over soon, still retained a certain sangfroid atmosphere around the man as he walked by Ash's side - with hands swaying lightly either side of the man and lowly humming a light tune. Ash could admit that there were times that the man was a lesser version of Max Glenreed, especially at times like these. Of course, because of the fact that the man was more powerful than his fake 'dad', Ash could also admit that Donato managed to be ten times more annoying.

   "Three weeks from now will be the big day, right?" Donato suddenly mentioned.

   Ash did not need to ask what the man meant. "That's right," he replied in a low tone, eyes focused ahead onto the street, "if the plan that Burton and I came up with goes smoothly, at least."

   Donato nodded in acknowledgement as he continued, "And whilst you're busy, Saadhika's team will take over decrypting the secondary passwords for the two parts of the algorithm that we have at time being?" He then looked at Ash but without any hint of worry etched upon the man's face. "You think they could do it?"

   "All they have to do is play ClueFinders and The Oregon's Trail," Ash responded with a quirk at the edge of his lips, "so, of course, they can do it. There might be a couple of surprises ahead but surely nothing CIA techies cannot do. Saadhika will be monitoring Burton and I, however. She was adamant."

   "You and Burton will be in good hands with her," Donato commented, "given if you don't annoy her, at least."

   "I know," Ash agreed, moving his eyes back onto the streets, "she's oddly adept at a lot of things."

   Donato then let out a chuckle. "You're not bad too, sonny," he barked as he slapped a hand on Ash's back, startling the latter. Then, the lightness became considerably heavier as Donato then asked Ash, "Will you be alright, though?"

   Truth to be told, Ash did not know the answer himself. Two years of nothingness did not mean he had two years of memories fading away and it was rather likely that he crumble under the sudden rush of nightmares that plagued him for all of his life. The darkness, the violent touches, and that greedy suckling of every ounce of his soul - Ash has never been convinced that they would totally go away. And even with two years of silence, Ash never truly thunk that there were ever a peaceful respite waiting for him. That was gone two years ago as well, Ash had often thought.

   However, that had never meant that it was right to let things mull over and for the darkness to grow even further. He might had not been the greatest hero of all but he neither a coward - Ash could tell that much. It might have been understandable to others if he backed out but the last thing he wanted was the pitying looks around him. Ash might have lost the life he could have and, granted, he might have even lost his whole world already. But he would be damned if he lost whatever little bit of what he had worked hard to achieve all this time. And, maybe for Ash, that little bit was called courage.

   "It would be a waste of planning if I don't go," Ash told Donato, "and I asked for this in the beginning. I am already in the deep, anyway, so what is the harm going just a little bit deeper?"

   Donato looked away and said nothing which was quite odd for Ash; he knew the man would always have a quip or a rejection at times like these. Not this time, though, as Ash watched Donato who kept walking ahead of him. However, in a few moments, Donato finally faced him with a warm expression and a smile that Ash could not really read but nevertheless lifted a slight weight upon his shoulders that he did not know was there. When they reached 116th Street Station and parted ways, Ash was astonished that the lightness was still there. Maybe, it was the fact that there was neither disapproving nor pitying looks from the man but that Donato had seen and heard the determination in Ash. However, as Ash went towards his parked bike, all of that would not matter in the end. Ash, and possibly the world world as well, would watch and see - in three weeks' time.

 

   Three weeks went by too quick in Ash's opinion and it was not helping that the trepidation was coupled with deep exhaustion due to the very long drive from Manhattan to the Niagara Falls. The whole group consisting of him, Mr Burton, Saadhika and other agents that Ash were not too familiar with met along Riverside Drive in Washington Heights on the early hours of the morning less than a week before for one last briefing. And this was the time where they just told Ash that the twins managed to travel all the way north on the night before.

   "It seems that they hitchhiked a heavy goods lorry from one of the piers at the Hudson heading towards the border a night before," Mr Burton had explained to Ash, "We had only found that out this morning." With an apologetic grin, he added, "it seems that we have quite a road trip on our hands."

   To admit that the whole thing irked Ash was an understatement. The CIA agents that were meant to keep track on the twin's movements had informed them that the children were sneaking from pier to pier in order to catch a cargo ship heading across the Atlantic and into Northwest Europe where things have gotten more vigilant towards Russian activities in general. What was more, it was also reported by the same CIA agents that the twins were heading towards the New York Container Terminal. For Ash, this made some sense; terminals were busy places with small nooks and crannies that they could slip into and hide. This was the information that the team had stood by with for weeks on end. Then, their trust was rewarded with a complete one-eighty of skewed, misled information.

   "It was a hard time finally wrestling the information," Saadhika had told them whilst frantically typing away. She had been in a middle of hacking into the said agents' computers. "Still would not budge even whether I give them rewards or just their unscathed life back."

   "And the result...?" Mr Burton trailed although Ash speculated that he would know Saadhika's answer already.

   Saadhika answered with a shrug, albeit with deeply furrowed eyebrows still etched on her face, "I have to beat it out of them." And despite the almost nonchalant tone, Ash could not help but to notice the weariness in the hunch of her shoulders and by the way she nibbled her fingernails endlessly. "I have alerted the agents from the other side of the border for a look out earlier. Looking at the license plate, it seems that the goods truck picked up by our twins only terminates in Toronto. I requested for them to station by Rainbow Bridge and Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. When we get there, we retrieve what we need."

   Ash's eyes glowered. He had a hard time not forming a growl upon his lips as he asked, "And the twins? What will happen to them?"

   Saadhika then fully turned to him with the same weariness in her eyes but with much more warmth in her reply, "They will be moved to Denmark where their parents will be waiting for them from Toronto Pearson International Airport. Canada, after all, is still a Solntsevskaya territory - small, but still might be dangerous. Our reports tell us that they haven't conquered Denmark yet nor did the other big Russian bratvas. So, they will be safe there for a while before we can come up with much better protection if they want to come home to Cambodia." At Ash's incredulous face, Saadhika procured a pair of plane tickets to Coppenhagen and a small rectangular device. "Donato will be taking them there himself and then said you can even place a tracker on his person if you want. That particular one came with a small spy camera."

   Ash let out a soft scoff whilst examining the tracker, twirling it round and round in his hand. "I don't think that would be necessary," he finally replied and left it at that.

   The night they had finally discovered the truth, and all the information that were kept hidden from them, was the only night they had to completely overhaul their original plans and scrap a new one. A day and a half later, Ash, Mr Burton, Saadhika, and a handful of mixed agents from both CIA and MI6 (the latter acting more as a secondary eye on their American counterparts more than anything else) went off into separate directions towards Niagara Falls. It was hastily planned that some of the agents go more or less the shortest route via the interstate roads, towards Scranton and Syracuse from West Bronx. The rest of the agents would then be taking the slightly longer route via the NY-17 towards Whitney Point and Rochester. Ash, Mr Burton, and Saadhika agreed to go alone in their own confusing routes with could last for more than a day. Ash himself had devised a route going through the large forests in Pennsylvania which he could large utilise to lose pursuers - and possibly, some of his babysitters that came from Donato. There was little doubt that both Mr Burton and Saadhika had planned the same.

   Luckily for him, and for his worsening migraine from all the travelling, it seemed that Ash would be able make it to Niagara Falls without any hitches and, most importantly, without any nasty surprises. Before he knew it, Ash had reached Buffalo earlier than expected around past midnight than what was scheduled. It was quite the time, too, for he was just coming out of Black Rock when his phone rang.

   "It's me," Saadhika's voice came once he accepted the call, "I just had a call from one of our Canadian agents. They have stopped the goods truck by the Rainbow Bridge and located the kids. However, they are very scared to even come out of the container box and kept avoiding them as much as possible."

   Despite the fatigue settling in, Ash rolled his eyes as he revved his motorbike even more. The incompetence, Ash muttered in thought. "Leave it to me," he told Saadhika as he put down his phone.

   Around twenty minutes, Ash counted in his head as he revved up his motorbike faster again until the fatigue that clung onto his skin was stripped away. The two helpless children that had only been haunting his consciousness had materialised as if they were right in front of him - shrouded in pitch darkness that was both their prison and their escape. He was fully aware that he would not be the one to show them the light either; Ash was too fragmented, too jaded, and had seen enough to be the one for optimism. But he reckoned that if he had managed this one thing, this one thing that he should have done numerous times many years ago, then Ash might have a reason to hope after all. I will not fail, Ash repeated in his head over and over again as he sped upwards onto Interstate 190.

   Crossing Grand Island and riding the first half of the North Grand Island Bridge felt like mere minutes to Ash. Driving through the Niagara Falls Boulevard and Walnut Avenue felt even shorter. A good thing as well, Ash thought as he turned left onto the Main Street before gunning down the road again, who knows what those agents are like with traumatised kids. He took a deep breath as he passed by the statue of Little Lady Liberty, slowed down to a halt by the wayside, and parked his motorbike. It did not take him long to spot the large truck parked by one of the tolls that Ash presumed had been ordered close by the agents already stationed. The rest of the toll gate was open for use as usual with only a couple of vehicles going through them every now and then. Rolling his eyes when he saw two conspicuous agents by the truck, Ash sauntered towards them with hands in his pockets and his jacket collar high up to protect his neck from the slight breeze. When he squinted his eyes, he observed that they were in a middle of an interrogation with a very animated and a very furious fellow who seemed to be the truck driver.

   "Look," Ash heard one of the agents say, who had a placating hand out towards the angry driver and the other nursing the darkening bruise around his eye, "we are not arresting you. We just like to ask a few questions."

   "I ain't gonna say nothing!" the truck driver roared, grabbing his baseball hat and throwing it on the floor in frustration, "you ain't gonna cause me no mo' trouble, you hear me?! Who are you to take those kids away. eh?! You guys have no soul - even when they are kickin' and screamin', you still dragged them out - mercilessly, may I say!"

   The other agent pressed two fingers on the bridge of his nose and took a deep sigh, "Sir... Let me explain it to you one, more, FUCKI-"

   "I'll take over here, gentlemen," Ash finally called after clicking his tongue and rolling his eyes at the situation, "My colleagues and I really appreciate your help."

   Ash's intuition had been right - the agents were horribly inept at diffusing these kind of situations. It was probably the main reason why Saadhika had called for him in the first place. It was for the best, too, especially on these delicate situations; agents were agents in the end, no matter if they were American, or Canadian, or anything else.

   The first agent gave a Ash a distrustful look as he looked him up and down. "Who are you?" he asked in a rather rude way, "this is a situation college kids need to keep their noses out."

   The second agent seemed to have a few more brain cells than his counterpart as Ash spotted a flash of realisation written all over his face. "He is one of _his_ ," the second agent whispered to the former, "One of the meddling ones."

   The first agent gritted his teeth, "Tch! What a fucking pain. If we had been here earlier, we would have-"

   Ash inwardly rolled his eyes as he tuned the two agents and turned to the truck driver. "I am incredibly sorry for these two gentlemen's treatment of the children," Ash said in a sympathetic manner as he sat next to the truck driver, "However, sometimes necessary force is, well, necessary."

   "It ain't necessary if they are children, you hear?!" the truck driver retorted with a very paternal look in his eyes. Ash remained impassive but he could not help but to smile on the inside as he saw the driver's heated fury. It seemed that the twins were in good hands all this time. There had only been one person that Ash met who was just as protective as the driver in front of him. Sometimes, there were times where Ash thought that he was actually Max's son instead of Jim's. It was a nice thought. "And you haven't said your name yet, boy," the truck driver scolded again, "I ain't gonna talk unless I know who I am talkin' to!"

   "Oh! Do forgive me," Ash started as he straightened up and adjusted his jacket, "My name is Raphael Glenreed and I work for the child protective services." Ash then flashed the truck driver his fake identification given by Mr Burton. "My colleagues and I heard that there were trouble with illegal immigrant children in these area and it seems that the authorities have found out that you are trying to smuggle them out to Canada?"

   The truck driver raised his eyebrow at Ash. "You look nuthin' from the child protective services. Though, I ain't trusting them either - I know how bad they have become," the truck driver told Ash and then continued with a heated gaze, "Look here, son. Look deep inside you and tell me - honestly - what would you do if two, downtrodden, and clearly beaten kids ask for your help. They run straight towards to you with clear terror written all over their faces - bawlin' their eyes out as if tears would run out and then blood come gushing out next. They were screaming 'Canada! Canada!' over and over again - probably because they saw the flag plastered all over my truck." Indeed, there it was as the truck driver pointed at his vehicle. Ash thought that the signature reds and maple leaf was splattered all over the vehicle in such an obnoxious way like a grandiose promise.

   Ash watched as the truck driver took a deep breath, a hand settling over his temple. Ash deduced that the truck driver was not even with him anymore but in a place a few days ago, reminiscing with sadness. "Their feet were bleeding like hell. Their knees were bleeding like crazy! They ain't got no shoes on them or anything," the truck driver continued with a more sombre tone, "Of course - of course! Your heart will break and your eyes will water. And you will do everything that you can to help them." He then looked straight into Ash's eyes. It unnerved Ash, that he would admit, but he knew that he could not look away even if he tried. "I have a son and two daughters that are the same age as them - my son is twelve years old, and my daughters are nine and six. So, I know, Mr Glenreed, I know that children that age should never know such a terror."

   Ash knew. And Ash knew that children who never ever lived twenty years of their lives should never have to run away, to crawl, to beg for mercy, and to be forced to their knees. However, the world they were living in were too lustful and too greedy. They were too big, too intimidating, could run even faster than them, with limbs long enough to grasp them - to violate them. The rest were just too blind see the tears and too deaf to hear the cries, going about their own mundane businesses that only mattered to them. Twenty more years later and Ash dejectedly observed that things still did not change.

   "Alright there, son?" Ash was shaken out of his stupor as a hand landed upon his shoulder. It was not gentle but it was not rough as well. Ash thought that it was rather firm but warm. He had to stop himself from looking disappointed when he discovered it was not Max who owned the hand that was upon his shoulder. "You spaced out quite a bit there," the truck driver told Ash.

   Ash shrugged the hand away from his shoulder and looked away from the increasingly concerned truck driver beside him. He bowed his head low, blond locks acting as a veil over his eyes. After mere seconds, however, he took a deep breath and telling the truck driver, "I-I'm fine." He inwardly flinched at the small stutter in his voice but he nevertheless steeled his eyes into a mildly concerned mask of an outsider before looking back at the the truck driver. "Sir, I know that sometimes the protective services can be neglectful - sometimes, too neglectful." Then, he allowed a flash of genuine promise make its way into his eyes; Ash knew that he could not fully lie to a real father, "However, I guarantee you from the bottom of my heart that these two precious children will be safe - I will make sure that they are safe." Ash then allowed himself a smile. "Even if it killed me - I will make sure they are back to their parents."

   Ash would be foolish to think that his words alone fully put the truck driver's mind at peace however the latter was at least trusting him a little by the looks of the softening lines across his face. Ash found that this somehow made him more determined. "Very well, officer," the truck driver started as he finally pulled himself up, "You have given your word and - I must be crazy - but I'll take upon them for now. But don't you go thinkin' that I am trusting you just yet, officer, for if I ever know that those kids are in trouble again, you might wish you haven't met me at all." Then, the driver pointed at the two still muttering agents who had shuffled away from them. "They definitely wished they haven't met me."

   Ash also pulled himself up to face the driver with the same smile and the same determination in his eyes. "I'll try - no, I won't fail you, sir," Ash replied. Then, remembering all the faceless children of his past and his present, he continued, "I may not be able to save everyone - I am no hero, after all. But, at least for the time being, these two children will be protected by me."

   "If that is the case, then you are a good guy," the truck driver said in a softened tone, patting Ash's shoulder one more time. "I guess I will just leave things to you, officer. But I sure ain't going to rest easy tonight still."

   Ash gave the driver a sympathetic smile. "I think all of us won't have a good night's sleep as well," he admitted.

   With another look of concern, the truck driver finally took a deep breath and strolled back towards his truck. Ash watched as he went into the driver's seat and turned on the engine. When he finally moved away and past the toll gates, Ash inhaled a deep breath of his own. It was silent again with nothing but the soft echoing of the thunderous water in the distance. He then ventured towards the two agents who were both giving him quite a pair of disgruntled looks. Ash squared his shoulders and gave an impassive look of his own. However, he knew inside that his moment with the truck driver was just a honeymoon phase and the real test was just starting. At the back of his mind, now that he was not facing the paternal fire in front of him, a sense of self-doubt was crawling from the back of his mind and threatening to divulge him into despair. No, Ash steeled himself. This was not the time to doubt for Ash and this was not the time to run away - not just from the situation itself but from all the promises that he held for the driver, for the children, and more importantly, for himself. Eiji, Ash called out as he closed his eyes for a brief moment, give me strength.

   "Don't worry about that driver," Ash told the agents when he was finally within their vicinity, "he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

   The first, more obnoxious agent was still not convinced. "And what happens if he was lying?" he retorted, still nursing the darkening black eye, "He might end up cooperating with the Bratva."

   Ash gave the guy a scoff. "Don't you ever read people's body language?" he gibed, "He's too defensive and too open. He speaks without a slight hesitation that you spot from a normal spy and the shaking was not from being under pressure - is all heated fury from being in this situation." Then he gave them a smirk, "Wow, if the world's government agents are like you then the whole planet is in trouble."

   The second one was quick to scorn at Ash, "You're some shit, aren't you? Just like the rest of _his_ underdogs."

   "Suit yourself if you think like that," Ash shrugged. Then, he made sure that his eyes turned sharp, dangerously too, "now, if you gentlemen could kindly tell me where the children are?"

   The look seemed to work much to Ash's satisfaction and it only took mere seconds for the agents to start spilling. "They are in the US Customs and Border Protection in the meantime," the second agent told Ash, "they are being looked over by some of our female agents - well, attempting to anyway. They are a couple of lively ones."

   Ash rolled his eyes. "Obviously, you also don't know how to deal with vulnerable kids," he mocked, giving both agents patronising pats on the backs, "Don't worry, not all of us can be at least adequately good."

   Laughing when both agents violently slapped his hands away, Ash sauntered away from them and towards the small office building by the side of the toll gates. Immediately, Ash noticed the chaos ensuing inside as he heard things being thrown across the room and the female agents running back and forth. When he heard a shrill shriek of terror and when he saw one of the more burly agents grabbing a thin arm through one of the windows, Ash saw red and bolted as fast as he could. With a loud growl, he burst through the rickety door of the building, almost taking it off its hinges. Not even pausing to look at the both shocked and terrified faces of the occupants, he swiftly reached for his gun and pointed it at the offending agent who has her hand raised as if to slap the small child in her grasp.

   "D-Drop the gun," one of the other female agents ordered despite the stammer as she nervously reached for her own gun.

   Ash, however, did not drop the gun and roared, "Then drop that fucking hand!" With another loud growl and a promise of murder in his eyes, he added, "Or I'll shoot your arm off from your shoulder!"

   It did the trick and the burly female agent dropped the hand and released child from her hold. Ash watched as the child - they boy twin, when he finally had the opportunity to look closely - scamper with a sob of fright towards the other twin who was curled up at the corner of the small room. Ash wanted to sob as well when the two embraced each other closer and hid their faces from the rest of the room, quaking in fear and almost hyperventilating in terror. But Ash knew that this was not the time to break down in tears; he had to act and dissolve the situation at least until Burton and Saadhika arrived. This was probably why Saadhika had contacted him in urgency; she knew things would escalate quickly.

   "W-We are only trying to give them a little sedative to calm them down," the stuttering agent started again. Ash looked back as saw a small syringe pressed against her chest. She continued, "We are t-trying to make it as seamless as much as possible for the doctor who is going to arrive here in around an hour - t-they need to be c-checked quickly."

   "Then, you fucking burst through the door and scared them even shitless," the burly one rebutted as she straightened herself up.

   "Like you are making much progress at all," Ash rebutted, sneering as he steeled his enraged look at the female agents. He then barked an order, "Get out of here! Scram! I can't deal with the ineptitude of you lot. Burton, Saadhika and I will deal the situation - don't worry, we'll actually do the job right."

   "How dare-!" the burly agent started before being hushed by her meeker counterpart. With an apologetic nod, the latter pushed the burly agent out of the small office and shut the door behind her. Ash relaxed and his hands fell onto his side. In the silence, the whimpering of the twin and his own laboured breathing amplified across the room. The white noise had faded and everything became clear and crisp. As he placed his gun back onto the waistband of his jeans, he took one of his multiple deep breaths this one night alone and turned his now softening gaze at the twin by the corner of the room.

   They were a pitiful sight and Ash could not help it when his heart cried out for them. I know that children that age should never know such a terror, Ash recalled the truck driver's words and he had to admit they do really hit him especially when faced with the reality. It was funny as Ash realised that it really had been a very long time when he was in the same position. Yes, he had been caught, and he had been grasped, and he had been violated - more than what he could remember. The difference was he did live up to twenty and there was a possibility that he could live up to a few more - if he was strong enough.

   "Hey...," Ash called out in a soft and tender manner, shuffling low towards the twins so that he was at their level, "I'm here to help you..."

   Ash reached out a hand but pulled it back when the girl lashed out with her neglected long nails. He winced at the scratches that they made, red lines stark against the paleness of his skin. He shrugged them off though as Ash shuffled a little closer to the twins but did not do anything further but to sit there, making sure he would not encroach further into the twins' personal space. Ash also looked away just in case a stare of an adult intimidated them; from experience, he was sure as hell that he could not trust them anymore. Minutes later, however, the twins still sounded pitiful, hitching every now and them between their sobs. Ash was not quite at the end of his tether but he could not help the exhaustion settling into his very being. Experience, regrettably, did not make him an expert and, for most of his life, he had never been comforted - much less, comfort another. This made him despair; this made him feel being stuck in the middle of a claustrophobic box without any exits. There was no light, no salvation, and no one he could turn to-!

    _"I'll tell you a story, Ash? Something that I picked up while you were busy. Is that okay?" Eiji's soft voice and when the blur across his eyes was gone - there! There were the twinkling, brown eyes. "It will make your nightmares go away - at least for tonight. I promise!" Rustling, and there was warmth by his side. The lamplight behind Eiji's head formed a halo - Ash's angel. "Sorry if I pronounce some of the words wrong, okay? Okay, here it goes..."_

   "Once when I was six years old," Ash started. His voice seemed to be detached from his brain - but much more closer to his heart, "I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called 'True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest..."

   Then, Ash continued and led the twins into a world where adults could not understand. Towards the stars, a small planet with huge Baobab trees, and a rose that was loved very much. Where elephants fitted whole into a boa constrictor's stomachs. Where kids were never devoted to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. Where there were princes who wanted a sheep to eat the Baobabs away. Ash's despair was lifted in a sense of childishness that he thought he would never experience after these two years. He drew messy pictures and showed them to the sniffling twins who, thankfully, were starting to calm down. Ash smiled as he continued to talk about the king, the arrogant man, and the businessman. He made stink faces and his heart lifted when he saw ghost of smiles on the twins' faces. It was not much but Ash knew that it was a lot better than years of not smiling at all. He told them about the flock of wild birds, the snake in the wall, and the fox who would always be tame and who would always be your friend.

   Ash ended the story with an open and teary but meaningful promises in his eyes and made sure to convey them to the twins. "I'll be your fox that would always be tame," he told them in a voice that was on the edge; that was on the verge of incoherence and yet, for Ash, it was all the same clear, "I'll be the fox that will always be your friend..." Then, he held out a hand in offer. He would not touch them; it would be their choice. Ash closed his eyes and waited.

   More, long minutes came past and the ticking of the nearby clock grew louder and louder in Ash's ear. It seemed hours to Ash, who still had There! It was tentative and unsure but Ash felt it. He dared to open his eyes. There were small, fragile fingertips over his hand, just about hovering. His wide eyes trailed from the small hand and towards to the faces of the twins. They were not smiling and they were definitely not relieved. In fact, Ash despaired at first when he finally felt the fervent quaking through their fingertips and there was still a fair bit of fear in their eyes. However, there was also hope rising from within - something that was almost non-existent in Ash's world. For once, Ash felt hope as well as he enclosed his hand around the small fingertips in a soft embrace. They were going to be safe.

   The mood dissipated just as quickly by the loud ringing of his phone. The twins flinched and huddled into themselves again, whimpering. Ash cursed inwardly as he picked up the phone whilst making tender, hushing noises towards the twins. He smoothed his hand up and down their backs in a comforting manner and smiled when the twins pressed into them further. He gave his phone an annoyed look when he saw Mr Burton's name flashing.

   "Hey!" Ash started, "Why the hell are you both late-"

   "Not the time to be a smartass, I'm afraid," Mr Burton rebutted, breathing heavily. Ash could not help but to frown at the frantic tone in the other's voice. He was even more alarmed when his ears picked up guns in the background. "Saadhika and I are unfortunately in an altercation with our friendly Bratva," Mr Burton hurriedly explained, "I got ambushed going into the Main Street from College Avenue. Saadhika got ambushed by the Veterans' Memorial Park. Listen to me - just get the hell out-" Ash heard a pause for more bullets, "- get the hell out of there! From what I understand a lot of the Solntsevskaya gang are already on the way towards Rainbow Bridge."

   "W-Wait!" Ash halted Mr Burton, arm now gently shepherding the twins behind him, "We have only just planned this out - it would have made sense if they went with the old plan. How the fuck did they catch on this quick?!"

   More bullets were heard and Ash's panic increased when he heard screams and groans of pain through the phone. When there were still no reply from the other man, Ash was starting to feel more than apprehended. Then, a bombshell was dropped. "Another traitor," Mr Burton murmured with a bitter scoff before cutting off the line.

   Then, chaos.

   Bullets entered the building as soon as Mr Burton ended the call, hard and fast and loud enough to mask the loud screams of the twins behind him. Ash swooped to cover both children with his body as he lifted his head to assess the situation. Most of the bullets were coming from the front of the building, by the toll gates. They were haphazard and did not go any further than below the waist if he was standing. It did not take Ash long to realise that they were meant to be haphazard and they were not meant to hit any of them at all. No, Ash thought as his mind raced for a solution, they are banking on us panicking and fleeing. There was no doubt in his mind that there was going to be an ambush waiting for them if they escaped through the back door.

   A bullet then grazed Ash cheek and this finally prompted him to reach for his own gun. Keeping the crying twins close to him, he moved along with them behind a nearby heavy, metal cabinet. The bullets reverberated even further as they hit the metal and it did the job of frightening the children even more as they pressed further close to him. At that moment, Ash again felt the weight of his promise as he cocked his revolver and faced his enemies with determined eyes.

   BANG!

   Ash's bullet did not miss and watched in silent satisfaction as one of the men with a semi-automatic fall down, bleeding profusely from the hole between the eyebrows. Encircling an arm across the twins' shoulders and holding them tighter, Ash aimed for the next target once there was another rare calm between the rounds of bullets. Ash aimed and pulled the trigger. The enemy convulsed and clutched his throat, blood running through his fingers, before finally falling over. Ash was relentless and uncompromising in his attack. Bang! Broke the skull. Bang! Through the heart. And from the way the attackers did not pause to even look at their supposed comrades, it seemed that they were just as relentless and uncompromising as well. Then, Ash noticed that the bullets were getting dangerously closer and closer to him. It seemed that if they did not manage to intimidate him, they would just have to kill him. No matter. His hand moulded to the gun that it was holding and his eyes turned into twin rangefinders. Aim. Fire. Repeat. Just like how he had been taught years ago.

   The range of bullets were lessened considerably and Ash was starting to believe that the whole ordeal was going to be over. His trained eyes rover over to the last single target. Until he heard the doorknob move from the back door. With a feral growl and a similar ferocious look in his eyes, Ash swiftly changed his aim to the door. He took a shot. A small gasp was heard before the thump of the body crashed onto the door. A shuffling behind him and Ash almost acquired a whiplash when he looked back. The last shooter did not even get an opportunity to meet death in the eyes before Ash took aim to shoot at both of them before shooting the fatal one through the middle of the forehead. Then, his arm moved back towards and fired at the door, ceaseless but with purpose in his eyes pinpointing the potential places of his opponents' vital parts. Brain, heart, and main arteries, Ash recalled Blanca telling him. Sharpen your ears. Hear how they shuffle their feet. Hear their breathing. And you would know where to aim. And Ash aimed and fired and succeeded every time.

   After the last thump of the body against the door was heard, there was nothing but the sound of his laboured breaths and the loud crying of the twins yet again. Ash would have thunk that he had reverted things back to square one if it weren't for the haze and the white noise that clouded his vision and deafened his ears. When they faded and when everything became somewhat clear, Ash still felt that his mind had become detached and that he could only look at the slight trembling of the hand that was holding the gun - the gun that he had used without hesitation to kill those around him. The stench of blood finally found his nostrils and it clotted until he was choking. It was funny, a little bit of his mind thought, how he had reverted back to the child that made his first kill. He could not breath.

   A touch. Slight and hesitant. But it prompted Ash to escape his stupor nonetheless. The stench and the blood was nothing again but the helpless, large eyes became everything instead. Why do I feel as if I have seen those before? Ash though in his head before shaking them out again. This was not the time. Ash had to keep moving. Thus, he moved away from the metal cabinet that he was hiding behind and looked at his surroundings. Keeping the twins close to himself, Ash moved towards the front office door. With the tip of his fingertips, he pushed down the handle and tentatively pushed the door open. Along with the dead gunmen that attacked them were also the agents that he had briefly met earlier, huge gashes across their throats and blood spilling out from their mouths and wounds. Ash was certain that they were ambushed too suddenly to even make a sound. He did not get along with them but Ash took a minute to briefly mourn for them a little. These agents surely did not apply for the job just to be collateral damage.

   The whimpering of the twins increased tenfold beside him but it was unfortunate that there was no such time to comfort them. "C'mon," Ash gently urged the children into the fray and tenderly holding their heads against his stomach. It was still worth not to cause them more trauma. Ignoring his motorbike, Ash shepherded them towards one of the parked cars nearby. Briefly releasing them, Ash made no hesitation and elbowed the window of the driver's seat. Once he unlocked every door, Ash then moved to open one of the back passenger doors. The twins thankfully took the hint and both hurried over to climb inside.

   Ash smiled as he closed the door and made his way back to the driver's seat. For now, it seemed that they were going to be safe. Ash, and everyone else, would just have to deal with the aftermath some other time.

   A couple of shrieks alerted Ash again. But he was a second too late as he was pushed down by burly fingers pressing against the back of his neck. With a roar, he squirmed and punched and scratched to free himself so vehemently that the car rocked along with his struggles. It was no use as another set of meaty fingers latched onto his neck. They squeezed and this finally prompted him to reach a shaking hand towards his gun. Another squeeze and, in shock, Ash had dropped the gun. He could only watch with blurry eyes as it tumbled towards the concrete ground. Fuck! Ash cursed in his mind as he changed his tactics and kept on twisting himself free.

   Ash heard the twin's loud sobbing again as multiple car lights entered into Ash's vision. In his desperation, he had briefly hoped that it meant that both Saadhika and Burton had arrived. His hopes crashed when they heard the voices talk.

   "Поторопись и убей блондинку," Ash heard a forceful voice barked out, "И верни тех шлюх!"

   There was a tremendous increase in the twins' crying and Ash panicked. He needed to get out of the choke-hold; he needed throw off the man on him; he needed to protect. But he was failing and he could only let out a choked cry when an apathetic, almost robotic tall pale man came forwards and opened the back passenger door. Ash's eyes blurred with tears of desperation. His limbs were starting to lose control. His mind was screaming, 'No! No!' But it was inevitable and Ash was helpless. He could only watch as those long limbs continue to grasp the helpless twins.

   Then, there was an ugly cry of agony from the seemingly stoic gang member. Ash's eyes widened as the man's hand fell down towards the seat and rolled off onto the carpeted floor of the car. He shifted his gaze and saw the twin girl's eyes gleam with savage ferocity. The glinting blood-stained steel of the box cutter she was holding with similarly coloured little hand was hard to miss. The man cried "Ты маленькая сука!" before reaching back again with his other uninjured hand. Ash watched with the same wide eyes as the twin boy attacked this time, more animal in nature than his sister when he let out a roar and sunk his teeth into the flesh of the pale man. Ash's shock wore off when the pressure around his neck loosened. This was his cue.

   Ash swiftly twist his body, coil up one knee to bring his foot down against his captor's kneecap. Successfully making the burly man stumble, Ash's saw an openness and his sharp eyes immediately took to the blade that was resting by the man's hip - within his reach. Gritting his teeth, he made a grab for the knife and, before the burly man could react, Ash swung the blade upwards into the man's neck. He chocked out blood, he convulsed, but Ash did not relent as his hand twisted the blade, making more blood pool out and down his arm. When his opponent finally met Ash's glinting eyes, the latter was unapologetic in his smirk as he swiftly withdrew his hand back again with a cry.

   Not waiting for his enemy to finally fall back down, Ash moved towards the twins again. Only they were gone. The only traces they left were haphazard bloody footprints into the bushes. Ash's stomach plummeted at his blunder. I should have just kicked the bastard and start the car! Ash scolded himself, bring down a frustrated fist onto the car's dashboard. Suddenly, there were yells and hollers heard from a distance. Through the red haze in his eyes, Ash followed as men took off from their cars one by one towards the nearby forestry. With a growl bubbling within him and his anger simmering into an explosion, Ash grabbed his discarded gun and immediately loading his bullets that was stashed from the inside pocket of his jacket. In, rotate, in another one, then rotate for the next. Ash's gaze did not leave the men on the move and his ears strained for even the softest orders that he could hear. The bullets were in and, with a purpose, Ash cocked his gun. There was a pained moan nearby. Ash spotted the heavily bleeding, formerly robotic guy. With a pull of his trigger and similarly stoic eyes that the man had acquired before, Ash ended his pain. Then, he stormed.

   His hand did not know when to stop; his feet did not know how to halt; and the whispering in his mind that Ash could not even decipher did not quiet down. That was fine, Ash thought as his bullets fell one man after the other; all he needed was the surge of ruthlessness that even he did not expect from him. He came in unannounced, moving back and fro in the shadows to stalk then barging into the light to greet his targets with bullets through their skulls. Anyone who stood nearby did not stood a chance.

   "Забудь о собаке!" one of the ones stationed near the cars ordered, "Просто иди в лес и найди немного дерьма!"

   Ash rushed when the others that he did not kill moved forward and into the trees. He cursed as one of them turned back to take aim at Ash's shoulder. It grazed and Ash only experienced minute pain. He was, however, unforgivable in return as he shot the bastard through the heart. "Come back here!" Ash roared as he took another aim and did not miss.

   "Ash!" A familiar voice - Saadhika's. But it faded so quickly once he heard further gunshots within the forest. Not hearing both Saadhika's and Mr Burton's alarmed warnings behind him, Ash ran with his gun cocked and ready towards the forest. He broke into the threshold, not caring when small twigs and branches caught onto his hair and ripped small parts of his clothes. He was only half-aware of Saadhika's orders to the other agents that had finally made their way. Instead, he focused all of his attention to the shrill of the rustling trees, to the unfamiliar Russian barks, and to the faint pitter-patter of panicked feet.

   It was quieter further in within the trees and shrubbery and the noticeable sounds of the gunshots were miles away behind. His other companions must have now started to distract the other gang members. Ash knew better than to acknowledge such calm, however, for he knew that there were still a storm. The bastards were surprisingly quiet despite their tall and imposing forms. This was an enemy that was not obnoxious. Ash even suspected to a point that some of the members were even Soviet-trained. Just like Blanca, Ash thought with a scowl. With a quick look around him, he pressed his back upon a tree and listened. A slight whooshing from above the trees - birds. Faint scurrying near him - small mammals. Rustling from around him - leaves tickled by the slight breeze that came by. A loud snap from his left. Target.

   Bang!, goes Ash's gun and in a split second, the maelstrom returned once the body flumped to the ground. Ash dived down low between the shrubberies and moved across trees, luckily missing the bullets aimed at him. With the sounds of the bullets by his side, Ash pinpointed the nearest enemies and took aim. He did not miss - he never missed. The last body nearby him had fallen and it was at this point that Ash heard what he was waiting for. The distressed, faint and fragile, footfalls along the grass. A child.

   With a gasp, Ash ran to where his ears followed to one of the footfalls and ignoring the grazes bullets from his enemies gave him. Only a second later did Ash hear heavier footsteps running alongside him, combined with the all too familiar gunshots and grazing bullets that left bloody scrapes upon his skin. There was definitely pain present, physically and mentally. But Ash did not stop - could not afford to stop. He would not allow himself to. He made a promise. And it was broken.

   BANG!

   There was another thump that was not resulted from his own gun. A smaller one. It was a significantly a smaller one. No, Ash refused to think of the worst. But his heart could not help but to thump violently in his chest and his breathing became erratic. His mind had gone completely blank. "Девушка убита!" one of Ash's opponents called out without any feeling - only business. Ash heard them disperse after another order was snapped at the members, "но мальчик все еще жив. Он важный." They scurried far from him but once he made to a clearing where he last heard those fragile footfalls, Ash could not stop himself from falling onto his knees.

   "I'm so sorry," Ash whispered but it did not matter, "I'm so, so sorry". The broken words were unheard and Ash could only look on at the fragile body of the small girl laying spread-eagled onto the ground, half-covered by the blades of grass that were drenched in young blood. It made her more noticeable than hidden; it made her image burn more in Ash's mind. The gaping hole through her heart and her eyes that rolled to back of her head spurred the bile from Ash's stomach. He could only vomit from where he was, in the shadows between trees. He did not wish to go any nearer. This thought disgusted Ash to his core.

   "I can see the someone between the trees from here!" a voice called from a distance. Ash's ears perked at the familiar British accent.

   "Looks like the girl from over here," the other familiar voice replied. After some rustling, it then took an apprehensive tone, "There's so much blood..."

   Mr Burton's voice surfaced again. "No sign of the boy..."

   That was the trigger that Ash needed. He looked back at the pitch-black of the forest with newly determined eyes, driven and ready. From opposite him, Ash registered the increasing volume of Saadhika's and Mr Burton's voices and the more audible rustling. He looked back at the prone form of the girl and, with all the strength he could muster, Ash finally moved closer. Letting out a quiet sob, Ash delicately bring his quaking hand over the girl's still open eyes to finally close them. He then gently held the frail, cooling hand in his for a minute. I'll find your brother, Ash vowed before he eventually let the hand rest down by the girl's side again. Then, he fled from the clearing with his gun tight in his hand.

   She was safe, Ash thought as he raced through the forest. He had heard an audible distressed gasp from Saadhika somewhere behind him. Saadhika was not the sadistic type, Ash deduced and he knew he could rest easy thinking that the body of the girl would not be defiled even more. Thus, with that thought and with the lingering feel of the small and cold hand he just held, Ash went further with his eyes desperately looking for the boy. He hid behind trees, moved through bushes, and searched for the boy and enemies alike. Diving behind one tree after the other, he scanned and surveyed the area around him. Every snap and every rustle would not go unnoticed and Ash made sure to swiftly dispose when a target was near. He went further in and soon enough, the silence of the first was disturbed by the rushing of water accompanied by the noise of the gunshots and yelling in both Russian and English. He ignored all of that; that was not his priority.

   Ash reached another clearing, a river cliff where violent murky rapids swirl below. Ash's trained eyes scoured the area and was about to leave in dismay until - there! There he was! Ash's spirit soared when he found the boy, his frail body similar to his sister hunched over by the edge of the cliff. The boy's eyes were clear and wide open. He was breathing - strughling, yes, but his chest still moved. Ash could almost sob in relief and thanked the gods above. The rustling, the gunshots, and the screams of both pain and anger from behind Ash dulled into white noise. He succeeded - he finally succeeded!

   However, as Ash moved nearer to the hunched boy, he could not shake off the apprehension that suddenly took over his body - the chill in the air that almost clogged all of his senses. He moved another few steps and Ash could not ignore the dead gaze that those wide, crystal eyes. Ash shook himself out of it, or at least attempted to shake himself out of it. Ash finally succeeded - he knew he did!

   "Hey...," Ash finally broke the threshold, voice shaking from the unshed tears, from the rage that bubbled over, and from the rapid beating of his heart, "... I'll take you home... I'll keep you safe..." He reached out, just as tenderly as before, an aviator to his little prince.

   "I know...," a whisper of a voice, small but it nevertheless resonated in Ash's mind. As if he and the boy were not in a clearing by Niagara River but in a large chamber with only them in it. It had tightened Ash's throat and had put him at a loss; the step forward was made frozen on the spot.

   Before he knew it, the shining eyes of the boy locked with Ash's - smiling but at the same time, defeated and, with a swiftness that Ash never knew one weak and fragile child could muster, the boy plucked the familiar, blood-stained box cutter and plunged it straight to his own stomach. "No!" Ash cried, diving forward with out stretched hands, but it was too late. He was helpless when the scent of rust filled the atmosphere and blood dripped onto the blades of grass. There is so much blood, Ash panicked inwardly, there is too much blood!

   "Stop it," Ash told the boy before repeating it in a cry, "Stop it!" He held into the small arms, trying to wrench them away without damaging the boy.

   But the boy did not stop and Ash was only greeted with the same smiling eyes and mouth filled with an expression that he could not read. The boy twisted the blade and more blood spurted out. There was an agonised shriek and Ash panicked further. He resorted to begging, loudly sobbing and vehemently pleading. It came to no avail as Ash watched the blade dug deeper into the flesh with eyes almost out of their sockets. His hands failed to obey, to stop shaking, to just do what they supposed to do! But the boy arrested Ash with his dead, smiling eyes again. He could not look away. He could not do anything. He did not even react when a clenched small hand, dripping with blood, hovered over Ash's still frozen outstretched hand. It was only by reflex did he catch a small chip given to him.

   Once the same bloodied hand rested itself upon Ash's face one more time, and once Ash was given one last smile - bright yet dying -, the boy finally closed his eyes and fell upon the thick grass which muffled his fall. A trail of bloodied fingers left Ash's cold cheek, thick and no amount of tears could wash them away. Ash, still frozen on his knees on the ground and breathing heavily, shook as he clenched the chip in his hand so tight as if he was to crumble the small metal into dust. It did not and it burned further into his palm, forcing him to face reality. There was nothing he could do. He wanted to scream but his throat closed tight. There was nothing he could do. Nothing.

   "A-Ash...?" A gasp from far away. Ash barely registered it. With once again hazy eyes, he turned to the direction of the voice. There, between the thick trees. Tall. Red hair. Broad shoulders and a demeanour that suggested military-trained. Ash blinked a few times and his eyes became clear. Ash eventually wished that they hadn't.

   Horror - that was what Ash immediately felt when his green eyes finally met Max Glenreed's blue ones. The tightness in his throat grew. He was suffocating. The blood on his clothes suddenly became heavier. The metal of his gun became colder. The dead body of the boy might as well turn back to life to mock Ash in the irony. The whole world was already mocking Ash.

   With increasingly frightened eyes, Ash watched as Max took a step forward. It was true that Ash had wanted to see Max again - the dad he never had. But he never want Max to meet him in such horrid circumstances as now. Oh God, Ash whimpered in his mind and his hopeless situation amplified when the usually cheery blue eyes turned horrified when they registered the gun, the blood, and the dead boy.

   "A-Ash? W-What...?" Max trailed with disbelief.

   No! Ash wanted to scream. IT'S NOT WHAT IT'S LIKE! Ash wanted to holler. To defend. He would willingly plead for Max. Because Ash knew that Max was not the type to turn him away. He had felt that familiar warmth of a father in Max. Ash believed in it. Ash still craved for it. But Max's blue eyes went back to his own and, suddenly, it was like the world came crashing onto Ash for the nth time this night alone. He could only open his mouth but the words never came. It seemed that salvation would not come for Ash - it never did.

   Thwack! Max fell forward all of a sudden, eyes rolling onto the back of his skull. Mr Burton was then standing where Max was before, a rigid hand positioned in front of him. The Englishman's eyes looked upon Max's prone figure with sympathy. It did not matter to Ash, though.

   "You bastard!" Ash thundered as his fist reached for Burton's cheek. The punch was weak, drained, as the damn Englishman only turned his face away when he received it. Ash went for another anyway, despite the exhaustion that wracked his body. His anger only grew when his fist was effortlessly stopped within Mr Burton's hand. "Let go!" Ash roared again, "I want to smash that disgusting face of yours!"

   "I will allow you - but later," Mr Burton told Ash with furrowed brows, "This is not the time, Ash. If I allow it to continue, believe me, you're going to end up in a much deeper shit than before."

   Ash could only growl as his hand fell down from Mr Burton's grasp. He looked away - from the blood staining the once pristine grass, from the dead body that would burn his mind, and from Max's unconscious figure. Walking a few steps away, Ash breathed in with a shudder and raked a hand through his sweaty hair. Ash wanted to rip it off from his skull. He heard soft footsteps behind him and when Ash looked back, he found Mr Burton moving towards the boy. The Englishman's eyes was indiscernible; deep remorse was an understatement. Ash found it hard to miss the moisture held in the other's eyes and the defeated lines of his shoulder.

   "Johnny...," Mr Burton started as he removed his Ralph Lauren trench coat, eyes still focused on the boy, "I remember when Johnny at this age. He was just as thin. Just as delicate."

   Mr Burton was tender when he draped his trench coat over the cooling body of the boy and he was just as careful when he finally lifted the boy within his arms. Ash observed as the man finally faced him, swallowing the lump that was lodged tight in his throat when his eyes landed on the boy in his arms swathed in Burton's trench coat. The heaviness, shared between the two men, became heavier again once Mr Burton found Ash's eyes. With tired, hollow eyes, Mr Burton finally stated, "They are all delicate."

_Ash felt like it too._

 

 

 

 

_The building that he was residing in was just as empty as the first time he came here, shepherded akin to a wayward lamb into a corral shaped like a townhouse bordered with fences filled with dying carcasses of what used to be inviting flowers and lush shrubbery. Yet, despite the almost nothingness but the four blinding white walls, his bare feet did not echo when they touched the ground again and again. Nor did the cold barely acknowledge them. Nor did they register the only person other than himself in this cold stone house - who was bustling and grumbling but he knew they have a hearing like a hawk - like they did not matter._

_Like he did not matter. But that was probably the best._

_He padded up the stairs in slow and airy steps, leaving the only other occupant of the house calling out to him. He did not take heed of them despite knowing that the other had been patient to him all this time. It only added a sliver more into his guilt and his heart was chipped a little bit more - despite its already broken state to begin with. When he reached at the top of the stairs, he could only whisper apologies but it was void. The other would accept this empty remorse just like how they did numerous times before. He stopped counting just as he stopped making similarly empty promises to himself. However, he knew at the back of his mind that he had to let the other go at some point._

_The rooms and hallways were still as white and cold as the ones downstairs. He stopped registering them a long time ago at the same time when he stopped registering that there were colourful springs, summers, and autumns; that there were nothing else but the bare winter and bitter winds that his own clipped wings could not take. I would rip them off gladly if it would bring him back, he thought in his head and then suddenly thought that no - he must not do this. He had no right to bring him back. He was worthless; he never saved anyone. He was never his salvation - no matter the smiles and embraces he remembered._

_His feet took him to an open atrium at the back of the house. It was a sole cold space in building that he somehow found relative peace; where there was not even a tiniest of emotions felt; where the voices in his head were finally letting him rest; where there was no blond-haired, green-eyed archangel to cast him away from his Garden of Eden. It was an empty space with no light other than what was let in from the three large windows overlooking bare yew and birch trees. There were no curtains to keep the light away nor to veil the world moving by outside of the windows, and there were times where it was sometimes all a little bit too much to handle. Thus, he would normally find himself laid down on the plush carpet and close his eyes and, if his luck permitted it, he would sleep - wishing it was for eternity; wishing for the blinding light that came from the three windows to finally claim him._

_However, he was still trapped in the end. Then, he would look up at the sky peering from the tall buildings and street light. He would watch the birds fly and wondered if he had ever flown at all._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note/s:
> 
> Russian Translations (courtesy of Microsoft Translator at Collins Translator website):  
> Поторопись и убей блондинку - Hurry and kill the blond rat  
> И верни тех шлюх! - And bring back those whores!  
> Ты маленькая сука! - you little bitch!  
> Забудь о собаке! Просто иди в лес и найди немного дерьма! - Forget the dog! Just go into the forest and find the little shits!  
> Девушка убита - The girl is killed  
> но мальчик все еще жив. - but the boy is still alive.  
> Он важный. - He's the important one.
> 
> Oh my God, guys. I am so, so sorry for the lateness of this chapter!
> 
> I did not think that it will took another 10k of words to just finish this chapter! I hope that it is all worth it though! And I still felt that this all have been rushed and I am so sorry for this kind of edit - I was kinda racing time to get this finished or else I might never post this! I will be , however, doing some edits in between just like how I edited the end of Chapter Three of the story.
> 
> I hope things will start picking up properly at this point on - and that will probably mean chapters as long as this one. Nevertheless, I will march and trudge on - even through mud, and rain, and, worst of all, writer's block!


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